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US: Facebook safeguards will protect young users
By The Associated Press, CNN.com
HARTFORD, Conn. - Facebook, the world's second-largest social networking Web site, will add more than 40 safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and cyberbullies, attorneys general from several states said Thursday.
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FL: Results mixed for Citizens' loan program
By Beatrice E. Garcia, The Miami Herald (registration)
The 13 insurers that took advantage of a low-cost loan program to pump up capital and write thousands of new policies are still sitting on millions of unused dollars.
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IL: Forby -- Governor had talked about moving state jobs out of Springfield
By Bernard Schoenburg, The State Journal-Register (Springfield)
State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, whose district could get the nearly 150 Illinois Department of Transportation jobs that Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration wants to move out of Springfield, said Thursday that Blagojevich told him in the past he wanted to move state jobs out of the capital city.
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MI: Tribe exemption unfair, casino officials say
By Margarita Bauza, Detroit Free Press
A smoking ban approved by the Michigan Senate that includes casinos could keep gamblers away in Detroit, and gives an unfair advantage to casinos operated by tribes, casinos officials and observers said.
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SC: Payday lending bill is on hold
By Jim DuPlessis, The State (Columbia)
Credit counselors and others testified for an hour Thursday before a House subcommittee about problems created by payday lending, but a bill to restrict the two-week, high-interest loans will have to wait for a vote. About two weeks.
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AK: Kohring sentenced to 3 1/2 years
By Sean Cockerham, Anchorage Daily News (registration)
A federal judge sentenced former Wasilla state Rep. Vic Kohring to 3.5 years in prison Thursday for taking bribes in a scheme to keep Alaska oil taxes down.
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AR: Home sales fall 23 percent in March, prices up
By Staff Reporters, Arkansas News Bureau
The number of homes sold in Arkansas in March fell 22.8 percent compared to the same month last year, while the average price of homes sold rose 3.2 percent, the Arkansas Realtors Association reported Thursday.
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AZ: Land auction raises concerns
By Peter Corbett, The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
An Arizona land auction for a Pinnacle Peak resort site has neighbors worried that development would reduce access to an adjacent hiking trail.
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CA: Schwarzenegger, automakers agree to pursue emissions control
By Michael Gardner, The San Diego Union-Tribune
In their first face-to-face meeting, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and automakers Thursday agreed to explore new cooperative approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions even as they duel in court and in Congress over just how far the state can go.
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CA: Big MTBE settlement to benefit California
By David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
Chevron Corp. and other big oil companies have agreed to pay $422 million to settle a major lawsuit over the gasoline additive MTBE, and much of the money will go to plaintiffs in California.
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CT: Legislature left nursing-home reforms on table
By Lsa Chedekel, The Hartford Courant (registration)
For months, state Sen. Edith Prague rallied support for nursing-home reforms from Democratic leaders and advocates for the elderly, telling anyone who would listen that "this is the year" for improvements to minimum-staffing requirements and stronger oversight of the industry.
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DE: Bill would restrict eminent domain
By Adam Taylor, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
WILMINGTON, Del. - The latest eminent domain reform bill in the state legislative pipeline would bring riverfront development "to a screeching halt" if passed, Mayor James M. Baker said Thursday.
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FL: FDLE unveils terror-alert system
By Jim Ash, Tallahassee Democrat
A man walks into a scuba shop and asks to buy a dozen diver propulsion vehicles without saying what they're for, or apparently knowing much about the sport of diving.
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FL: Crist has a $2.4-billion change of heart
By Steve Bousquet, St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Charlie Crist said "God bless Gov. Chiles" as the 2008 Legislature drew to a close last week, thankful for $2.4-billion in reserves made possible by the late Lawton Chiles.
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GA: Appeals court rules against peanut farmers
By Larry O'Dell, The Associated Press, The Macon Telegraph
RICHMOND, Va. -- Peanut farmers in seven states whose crops were devastated by the 2002 drought are entitled to only a little more than half the $30 million in insurance payments ordered by a lower court, a federal appeals panel ruled Thursday.
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HI: Options to gas-tax holiday sought
By B.J. Reyes, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
While gasoline prices continue to set new highs both nationally and locally, members of Hawaii's congressional delegation say Congress should explore options other than a summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax to try to bring down costs.
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HI: Hawaiian Telcom lands new president
By Dave Segal, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Troubled Hawaiian Telcom, the state's largest communications company, selected a top executive from another state utility yesterday to take over as president and chief executive.
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IA: Tama casino offers poker to gamblers under age 21
By William Petroski, The Des Moines Register
The Meskwaki Indian tribe plans to offer poker to 18- to 21-year-old gamblers next month at its Tama casino, but state regulators said the young players will be barred from slot machines, blackjack and other games.
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ID: 'Win-win' situation
By Nate Poppino, The Times-News (Twin Falls)
In April, the Idaho Water Resource Board announced it had completed its $26 million purchase of the Pristine Springs fish farm operation, a multi-party deal it said would solve surface water mitigation calls and provide the city of Twin Falls a way to solve its arsenic issues.
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ID: Canadian company nixes Idaho for ethanol plant
By The Associated Press, The Idaho Statesman (Boise)
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- A Canadian biotechnology company has decided to build a cellulosic ethanol plant in Saskatchewan, rather than southeast Idaho. Iogen Corp. on Wednesday said it has suspended its operations in Idaho.
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IL: Will the capital city be able to gamble on racing?
By Doug Finke, The State Journal-Register (Springfield)
Harness racing up to nine months a year at the Illinois State Fairgrounds could help raise money for fairground improvements and the Sangamon County emergency dispatch system, according to Rep. Raymond Poe.
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IL: 'Pay-to-play' ban goes to full Senate but hits a snag
By Jeffrey Meitdrodt and Ray Long, Chicago Tribune (registration)
A Senate panel unanimously approved a ban on "pay-to-play" for state contractors Thursday despite a last-minute threat from Senate President Emil Jones to add a provision proponents said would derail the legislation.
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IN: Booksellers agree with suit challenging new legislation
By Marti Goodland Heline, South Bend Tribune
"I just thought it was stupid." That was the reaction of Sarah Bird, co-owner of the Griffon Bookstore in downtown South Bend, when she first heard of a new law that will require retailers of sexually explicit materials to register with the state and pay a fee.
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IN: Appeal to BP permit in the works?
By Christine Kraly, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)
Environmental groups may appeal BP Whiting's new air permit, a move that could compel the refinery to stop the weeklong construction efforts of its $3.8 billion expansion.
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KS: Session marked by little progress
By Tim Carpenter, The Topeka Capital-Journal
State political leaders on Thursday assigned praise and fault for the outcome of the 2008 legislative session the day after House and Senate ended the four-month marathon.
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KY: Tuition increases scaled back
By Art Jester, Lexington Herald-Leader
Facing some of the angriest public remarks by a group of Kentucky university presidents in memory, a panel gave the initial vote of approval Thursday to higher tuition at the state's public universities and community colleges, including five institutions whose requests were cut.
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KY: Group urges cuts in some tuition hikes
By Nancy C. Rodriguez, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Five of Kentucky's higher-education institutions -- including the state's community and technical college system -- should not be allowed to raise tuition and fees as much as they propose.
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LA: Panel approves 'Bill of Rights'
By Bill Barrow, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
A Senate committee gave swift approval Thursday to a proposed "Bill of Rights" that would grant sweeping new benefits for Road Home applicants who assert that the contractors running the homeowner grant program are not following the policies set by the Louisiana Recovery Authority.
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LA: Board finds no conflict in roles
By Jen DeGregorio, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
The Louisiana Board of Ethics said Thursday that Sean Cummings, a private developer who also leads a city agency called the New Orleans Building Corp., can continue to steer two public developments because he does not have a "substantial" financial interest in the projects.
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LA: BRAC backs Jindal plans
By Gary Perilloux, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber formally backed several initiatives of the Jindal administration this week to ramp up state economic development efforts, including requests for $307 million more in deal-making money for big projects and a nearly $8 million increase to the Governor?s Rapid Response Fund.
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MA: College endowment tax is studied
By John Hechinger, The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Massachusetts legislators, demonstrating a growing resentment against the wealth of elite universities in tight economic times, are studying a plan to levy a 2.5% annual tax on the portion of college endowments that exceed $1 billion.
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MA: Cape owners avoid big hike in insurance
By Kimberly Blanton, The Boston Globe (registration)
Tens of thousands of homeowners on Cape Cod were spared a second straight 25 percent increase in insurance premiums after a state regulator yesterday rejected an insurance association's request for double-digit rate hikes.
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MA: State agency seeks to cover 30,000 more uninsured
By Jeffrey Krasner, The Boston Globe (registration)
The authority overseeing the state's healthcare law is exploring ways to cover an additional 30,000 uninsured residents, a step that could increase the annual cost of the program by more than $250 million within a few years.
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MD: O'Malley gives hints on vetoes
By Alan Brody, The Gazette (Gaithersburg)
As lawmakers and advocacy groups turn up the heat on bills they want vetoed, Gov. Martin O'Malley is beginning to signal his posture on several controversial measures passed during this year's legislative session.
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MD: Union won't back slots
By The Sun Staff, The Sun (Baltimore)
Breaking with the state teachers union, the Montgomery County Education Association voted Wednesday night not to endorse Maryland's slot machine gambling referendum, according to a news release from Marylanders United to Stop Slots.
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MD: Stem cell study grants awarded
By Jonathan Bor, The Sun (Baltimore)
Maryland has handed out its second round of grants for stem cell research, awarding a total of $23 million for 62 projects ranging from basic studies of the cells' properties to potential therapies for human disease.
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MD: Divided over slots
By Sean R. Sedam, The Gazette (Gaithersburg)
Large organizations are having as difficult a time with the issue of bringing slot machine gambling to Maryland as the General Assembly had in bringing the issue to the November ballot.
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ME: Lobster boat builders pinched as catch drops, economy slows
By Clarke Canfield, The Associated Press, Bangor Daily News
JONESPORT, Maine - For the first time in 24 years of building lobster boats, Wayne Beal doesn't have any job orders. He has a 42-footer under construction at his boatyard - but he's building it for himself, so he can give up boat building and go lobster fishing instead.
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MI: State smoking ban closer to reality
By Chris Christoff, Detroit Free Press
"Smoking or nonsmoking?" That question was closer to extinction Thursday as the state Senate approved a statewide ban on smoking on all workplaces including bars, restaurants and even casinos.
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MI: Some owners OK with ban, others not
By Sylvia Rector, Detroit Free Press
A smoking ban in Michigan restaurants and bars won't have the long-term negative impact on business that many owners fear it will, several restaurateurs predicted Thursday.
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MI: Campers get gas-saving perk
By Mark Hornbeck, The Detroit News
Gas price sticker shock has prompted the state to offer a new deal for campers: Store your RV, camper trailer or boat and trailer at certain state parks and recreation areas -- free -- for up to 15 days.
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MI: Senate OKs smoking ban; reaction mixed
By Jacob Carpenter and Kristin Longley, Booth Newspapers (Lansing)
When Chris Fegley and his son, 4-year-old Gavin, venture out for a meal, their restaurant choice depends on the location's smoke level.
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MS: Barbour wraps up Gaming Summit
By Mary Perez, The Sun Herald (Biloxi)
Gov. Haley Barbour will call up the bill to place a moratorium on casinos during the upcoming special session, but will call the tax-incentive bill for casinos only if it has the needed support.
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MS: Barbour, McCoy tussle over contracts
By Emily Wagster Pettus, The Associated Press, The Commercial Dispatch (Columbus)
Gov. Haley Barbour says some lawmakers are being "foolish and wrongheaded" to tie the fate of an employment agency to a dispute over state advertising.
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MS: State Farm settles Katrina cases
By The Associated Press, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)
The nation's largest insurance company has settled out of court with more than a dozen Mississippi policyholders whose lawyers were barred from representing them in lawsuits against the insurer over Hurricane Katrina damage, according to court filings Thursday.
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MS: Senate defeats wind clause
By Lesley Clark, The Sun Herald (Biloxi)
WASHINGTON -- A Gulf Coast-backed effort to add wind coverage to the National Flood Insurance Program was soundly defeated Wednesday in the Senate amid concerns it would be too costly.
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MT: Auditor declines regents' request
By Charles S. Johnson, Billings Gazette
The state legislative auditor said Thursday he cannot conduct a performance audit of two Montana student loan groups as the Board of Regents requested last week.
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NC: State sets up biofuels center
By Wade Rawlins, The News & Observer (Raleigh) (registration)
A new agricultural industry may emerge in North Carolina from the abandoned office of an old one. A former federal tobacco research station in Oxford reopens today as the new headquarters of the Biofuels Center of North Carolina.
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ND: Students debate sales tax
By Jon Knutson, The Forum (Fargo) (registration)
The public debate on the proposed half-cent Cass County economic development sales tax will be settled by voters on June 10.
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NJ: Meadowlands builder goes Chapter 11
By Maura McDermott, The Star-Ledger (Newark)
The company behind a failed $1 billion project to build golf courses and thousands of homes on landfills in the Meadowlands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday. EnCap Golf Holdings filed for protection from its creditors in federal court in Newark, one day after the state killed the project, according to court records.
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NJ: Activists -- COAH's dragging its feet
By Tom Hester, The Star-Ledger (Newark)
Activists who want an appeals court to appoint a special master to oversee the state's affordable housing effort yesterday charged the Council on Affordable Housing will not meet a court-ordered deadline for finalizing new housing construction guidelines and is intentionally dragging its feet.
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NV: CNA tips status quo, but doesn?t oust SEIU
By Tony Cook, Michael Mishak, Las Vegas Sun
The Service Employees International Union suffered a clear vote of no confidence this week as registered nurses it represents at three St. Rose Dominican hospitals voted in greater ? though still inconclusive ? numbers to join a rival union.
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NV: Nevada Republicans bolt party line, support housing package
By Lisa Mascaro, Las Vegas Sun
WASHINGTON - In a sign of how the mortgage crisis is rippling through Nevada and across the national political landscape, the state?s two Republican House members broke ranks with their party Thursday and defied President Bush?s veto threat to vote for the main provisions of a Democratic housing rescue package.
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NY: Falls heritage area is signed into law
By Jerry Zremski, The Buffalo News
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Thursday signed a bill creating a national heritage area in Niagara Falls, capping a prolonged effort by Rep. Louise M. Slaughter and other local lawmakers to bring some federal help to the region's tourism promotion efforts.
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NY: One state, one economic development chair
By Delen Goldberg, Syracuse Post-Standard
When he was governor, Eliot Spitzer believed Upstate New York needed its own economic development czar. He appointed Daniel Gundersen to focus entirely on helping the Upstate region tackle its unique challenges.
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ISSUES
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