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Some Alabama storm victims eligible for unemployment
By The Associated Press, Montgomery Advertiser
Residents of Jefferson and Chilton counties who were left unemployed by January tornadoes, flooding and other inclement weather may qualify for unemployment assistance.
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GOP leader helps pay Sen. Ross' legal fees
By Phillip Rawls, The Associated Press, Montgomery Advertiser
The Republican leader of the Alabama Senate said Thursday he helped pay the legal bills of a Democratic senator acquitted of all charges in Alabama's gambling corruption investigation.
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Parnell rips traditional retirement system
By Pat Forgey, The Juneau Empire
Gov. Sean Parnell said he doesn't support allowing new state employees back into the state's traditional pension plan, even if it's not expected to cost the state anything.
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Alaska Dems go against Supreme Court on spending
By Becky Bohrer, The Associated Press, The Juneau Empire
Alaska Democratic lawmakers Wednesday proposed a move toward amending the U.S. Constitution to ban unlimited third-party spending in campaigns.
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Committee introduces pension bill
By The Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News
Another bill aimed at addressing Alaska's pension problem has been introduced, this time by the Senate Finance Committee.
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Lawmaker seeks end to tax break benefiting Baptist Temple
By Richard Mauer, Anchorage Daily News
An Anchorage lawmaker is asking the Alaska Legislature to undo a 2006 change in state law that stopped city governments from taxing church-owned homes occupied by religious school teachers.
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Divided House committee advances bill on school choice
By Austin Baird, Anchorage Daily News
An expansion of school choice programs available to Alaskans is one step closer to becoming a reality, but a 4-3 vote by the House Education Committee this week and concerns raised by legislators suggest the road ahead for the bill could be rough.
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Arizona rising as key state in GOP race
By Dan Nowicki, The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
With the early Republican presidential primaries out of the way, GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney and his rivals Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are turning to Arizona as a crucial upcoming battlefield.
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House Democrats pushing renewable energy bills
By Jessica Testa, Arizona Capitol Times (Phoenix)
Give money to schools to install solar panels on their roofs. Eliminate extra paperwork for homeowners seeking to install panels on their roofs. Endorse a plan that encourages utilities to invest in the state's renewable energy industry.
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Arizona bill targets public employee unions
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
Arizona unions representing tens of thousands of public workers would be banned from collective bargaining with local governments and school districts as part of a sweeping package of legislation moving forward at the state Capitol.
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Bill expands state Parole Board denial
By Michael Wickline, Northwest Arkansas Times
State Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said Wednesday that he wants the Legislature to pass a bill in this month's fiscal session to give the Arkansas Board of Parole authority to deny parole to people convicted of felony sex offenses.
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Ark. revenues up in January
By Rob Moritz, Arkansas News Bureau
State tax collections were up in January, leading the state's top budget officer to say today that Arkansas's economic recovery continues, but it's slow going.
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CDI to relinquish fed Head Start funding
By Rob Moritz, Arkansas News Bureau
The board of directors of a financially strapped nonprofit based in Russellville that offers preschool programs to 2,300 children in 13 counties decided today to relinquish its Head Start grant funds to another provider.
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Can Facebook IPO help solve a state budget crisis?
By Daniel B. Wood, The Christian Science Monitor
The Facebook IPO could bring California as much as $500 million in tax revenues from capital gains. Depending on whom you talk to, that's a significant help or a drop in the bucket.
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High-speed rail tapped state funds for unusual lobbying contract
By Mike Rosenberg, The Mercury News (San Jose)
In an extremely unusual use of taxpayer money, the leaders behind California's $99 billion high-speed train quietly hired a lobbyist to sway the Legislature -- the same politicians who appointed them to build the project in the first place.
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California lawmakers keep school buses rolling
By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times
School buses are likely to keep rolling for now, as the Legislature on Thursday restored $248 million for home-to-school transportation that was particularly crucial for small and rural school districts that need to take students across long distances.
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Demi Moore 9-1-1 call sparks move to block recordings
By Torey Van Oot, The Sacramento Bee
News coverage of actress Demi Moore's recent medical emergency has led one California lawmaker to push for new restrictions on the release of taped recordings of 9-1-1 calls.
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CalSTRS' gap rises as return forecast falls
By Dale Kasler, The Sacramento Bee
By lowering its investment forecast by another quarter point, CalSTRS made a bow toward economic reality – but also may have complicated efforts to shore up its finances.
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California Democrats distort their majority-vote budget power
By Dan Walters, The Sacramento Bee
Many years of partisan wrangling over the state budget reached a climax in 2010 when public employee unions and Democratic politicians persuaded voters to pass Proposition 25, eliminating the two-thirds vote for budgets.
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Reversal on same-sex marriage trial tapes
By Ian Lovett, The New York Times
A federal appeals court refused Thursday to release videotapes of the trial challenging the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban.
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CalSTRS' gap rises as return forecast falls
By Dale Kasler, The Sacramento Bee
By lowering its investment forecast by another quarter point, CalSTRS made a bow toward economic reality – but also may have complicated efforts to shore up its finances.
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Not everyone opposes high-speed rail
By Brian Joseph, The Orange County Register
Dozens of union construction workers and college students rallied in support of the embattled California High-Speed Rail on Thursday in Sacramento, touting the jobs it'll create and the congestion it'll alleviate.
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Pinnacol, governor to ponder
By Patrick Malone, The Pueblo Chieftain
Gov. John Hickenlooper and Pinnacol Assurance said on Thursday that they will dial down their push for the state-chartered workers' compensation insurer to privatize. Legislation to move in that direction will not come this year.
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Colorado may revive circumcision funding
By The Associated Press, The Denver Post
Circumcisions for Colorado boys could again be covered by Medicaid, a year after circumcisions were eliminated to save money.
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Reasonable steps on enterprise zones
By Staff, The Denver Post
A legislative effort to restrict tax incentives in enterprise zones would establish long-overdue limits on this bloated program.
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Rep. Bradford ethics probe has chorus of critics
By Lynn Bartles, The Denver Post
A House ethics committee formed to review a Mesa County lawmaker's traffic stop after she had been drinking will meet on Monday, as criticism grows on whether the probe is needed.
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Legislature closed today
By Patrick Malone, The Pueblo Chieftain
The Colorado General Assembly canceled today's calendar in anticipation of a snowstorm that is forecast to bring up to a foot of snow to some parts of the state.
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Malloy cools to Keno -- or any major gambling initiative
By Mark Pazniokas, The Connecticut Mirror
The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy appears to be cooling on Keno, a game the Connecticut Lottery has endorsed as a way to boost revenues in a lottery market that turns 40 this month.
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Tax officials clarify debit card benefits
By Brian Lockhart, Connecticut Post
State tax officials must provide JPMorgan Chase with taxpayers' Social Security numbers in order to issue their refund checks as debit cards, but an agency spokesman said the bank cannot share that personal information or use it for marketing.
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Advocates challenge DSS denial of "habilitation" services for children
By Arielle Levin Becker, The Connecticut Mirror
When she was younger, Natalia Caraballo used some words and sign language to communicate. But around her 2nd birthday, Natalia, who has Down syndrome and autism, stopped speaking and started making less eye contact with those around her.
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Audit -- DSU violated bid laws
By Wade Malcolm, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
Flawed policies at Delaware State University led to millions of dollars in no-bid building contracts and the risk of collusion with vendors, an investigation by the state's Auditor of Accounts has found.
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State's colleges bracing for war on costs
By Wade Malcolm, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
This time of year, college costs occupy many people's minds. From high school seniors dealing with application deadlines, to current college students wondering what the next tuition spike will be, to the administrators of the state's public institutions heading to Dover during the next week to ask for more money at budget hearings in Legislative Hall.
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Board of Parole asks finance committee to restore funding
By Doug Denison, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
The state's embattled Board of Parole asked budget drafters Thursday to reinstate its dedicated funding stream next fiscal year, allowing the panel to pay for administrative help and maintain its independence from the Department of Correction.
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Offshore wind farm farther away, closer to reality
By Scott Harper, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)
Prospects for wind turbines churning out clean energy off the mid-Atlantic coast got brighter Thursday when federal officials unveiled safe areas where energy companies might build wind farms off Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
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Lawmakers weigh bills to create online sales tax
By Toluse Olorunnipa, The Miami Herald
It's a question that tests the Florida Legislature's aversion to new taxes and its pro-business bona fides: Should state law require online retailers to pay sales taxes? State legislators on Thursday began their push to do just that, moving forward on a pair of proposals that would force online-only companies—and people who buy goods on the Internet—to pay the state's 6-percent sales tax.
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Casino bill appears headed for House defeat
By Mary Ellen Klas, The Miami Herald
A bill that could bring three mega resort casinos to South Florida appeared doomed in the House Thursday, as backers struggled to cobble together a minimum eight-vote majority on the committee that will consider the controversial legislation on Friday.
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Redistricting maps are shuffling Florida's political landscape
By Mary Ellen Klas, The Miami Herald
The Republican-dominated House voted 80-39 along party lines Thursday to give preliminary approval to three redistricting maps drawn according to the new anti-gerrymandering standards of the Fair Districts amendments approved by voters. The amendments prohibit lawmakers — for the first time in Florida history — from drawing the districts with any intent to protect incumbents or political parties, and the results have shaken up the political landscape from Tallahassee to Jacksonville and from St. Petersburg to Miami.
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More Democrats may join primary fight for Rep. West's seat
By Amy Sherman and Erika Bolstad, The Miami Herald
The Democrats vying to replace departing Rep. Allen West from his 22nd congressional seat — businessman Patrick Murphy and former West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel — may miss the retired Army colonel and tea party crowd pleaser because his rants on Fox News fired up the left and delivered dollars to their campaign coffers. But the soon-to-be- redrawn congressional district — absent "bogeyman" West — has also perked the political ears of other Democrats, likely setting up a Democratic primary dogfight this summer with multiple candidates.
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Opponents to prison privatization should hold firm
By Staff, Tampa Bay Times
It's easy to tell when Florida's leaders in Tallahassee are trying to ram through legislation that would not pass on its merits. First they try to sneak it through. Once caught, they change the rules and play with the financial numbers. Then the governor calls in opponents to twist arms. And finally, legislative leaders punish those who won't get on board.
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Ga. House expects vote on $18.6B state budget
By Ray Henry, The Athens Banner-Herald
Georgia would spend $300 million on a toll highway meant to alleviate congestion in metro Atlanta and assist farmers who say they are struggling to find enough workers following the state's crackdown on illegal immigrants under an $18.6 billion budget plan proposed Thursday by House lawmakers.
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Charter school amendment clears early hurdle
By Dave Williams, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The state government would regain the right to approve charter schools in Georgia under a constitutional amendment that cleared a legislative committee Thursday.
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Georgia 'lemon law' fee could increase
By Kristina Torres, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New car buyers in Georgia would have to shell out an extra $2 for the state's "lemon law" fee under a bill passed Thursday in the Senate.
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Perdue reflects on governorship, GOP takeover
By Blake Aued, The Athens Banner-Herald
Former Gov. Sonny Perdue says he tried to fix the plummeting HOPE Scholarship when he was in office, but state legislators wouldn't listen.
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Bill repeals Schrenko-era laws
By Walter C. Jones, The Athens Banner-Herald
Moving through the General Assembly is legislation to repeal nearly three-dozen education laws, many enacted during the stormy tenure of ex-Superintendent of Schools Linda Schrenko.
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Hammond says he won't run for Senate re-election
By Betsy Z. Russell, Spokesman-Review (Spokane)
Sen. Jim Hammond won't seek a fourth term in the Idaho state Senate and instead will apply for the upcoming opening for president at North Idaho College, along with looking at other options that will keep him closer to home and family.
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Panel rejects expanded college boards
By Betsy Z. Russell, Spokesman-Review (Spokane)
Idaho's three community colleges strongly oppose legislation that would expand their boards of directors and impose new residency rules on the additional members.
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Higher speed limit won't advance
By Betsy Z. Russell, Spokesman-Review (Spokane)
On a 5-4 vote, an Idaho Senate committee Thursday killed legislation to allow big trucks to drive 75 mph on the state's freeways, just like cars.
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Idaho panel sets priorities for tobacco money
By The Associated Press, The Idaho Statesman (Boise)
State lawmakers want to use $5.7 million from a nationwide tobacco settlement for smoking cessation programs and substance abuse treatment.
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GOP lawmakers -- Drop Cook County Medicaid request
By The Associated Press, Quad-City Times
Two Republican state lawmakers on Thursday said it would be hypocritical for Gov. Pat Quinn to seek expansion of a health insurance program for low-income adults in Cook County at a time Illinois faces billions in unpaid bills and needs statewide Medicaid reforms.
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Indiana legislators on 'super' break
By Dan Carden, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)
After enacting one of the most controversial laws in state history, the Indiana General Assembly did not meet Thursday and is taking Friday off, too.
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State workers demonstrate for pay hikes
By Kurt Erickson, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)
Unionized state workers staged a protest outside of Gov. Pat Quinn's office Thursday over the Chicago Democrat's failure to pay wage hikes contained in their current contract.
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Charlie White's defense rests in fraud case
By The Associated Press, Evansville Courier and Press
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White's defense lawyer rested Thursday without presenting a case against voter fraud charges that could oust White from office.
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Ind. union leader promises no Super Bowl skirmish
By The Associated Press, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)
The president of Indiana AFL-CIO is promising union members will not disrupt the Super Bowl festivities in Indianapolis after efforts to block right-to-work legislation failed.
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Kentucky, Indiana shrink pollution-control zones
By James Bruggers, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Failing to comply with air pollution rules can be seen as a black eye for any community, and it brings tougher regulations for areas deemed to be in violation.
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A symbol of democracy is criticized as undemocratic
By A.G. Sulzberger, The New York Times
DES MOINES — The errors started to emerge even before Mitt Romney was declared the winner of the Iowa caucus by eight votes. By the time the results were certified two weeks later, mistakes had been found in so many districts that the state Republican Party chairman declared that it would be impossible to determine a winner.
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Tax credit change would aid 500,000 Iowans
By The Associated Press, The Muscatine Journal
An advocate for expanding a working-class tax cut backed by Democrats told state lawmakers Thursday that more than 500,000 Iowans would likely benefit from the change.
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Branstad urges renewed PTC for wind
By Dan Piller, The Des Moines Register
Iowa governor Terry Branstad has joined Kansas governor Sam Brownback in a letter urging Congress to renew the production tax credit for wind energy production that is scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
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House, Senate leaders issue state budget spending targets
By Rod Boshart, Sioux City Journal
Legislative Republicans and Democrats issued fiscal 2013 spending targets Thursday that were below the $6.242 billion budget that Gov. Terry Branstad proposed last month, with House Republicans setting funding levels nearly $119 million below Senate Democrats and $182 million below the governor by providing less money to education, human services and economic incentives and requiring state employees to pay nearly $43 million in health insurance costs.
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Iowa Senate bill would raise earned income tax credit
By Rod Boshart, Sioux City Journal
A Senate committee next week will be asked to approve a $25 million increase in the earned income tax credit for more than 250,000 working adults earning $45,000 a year or less and their 266,000 children, a key backer said Thursday.
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GOP budget asks workers to share insurance cost
By The Associated Press, The Muscatine Journal
Republican legislators have unveiled a proposed budget that would force state workers to pay $200 a month toward the cost of their health care coverage.
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Usurping local control
By Staff, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
The battle over whether states have authority to dictate to local governments was effectively settled in 1868. That was the year Iowa Supreme Court Justice John Dillon wrote an opinion that has become known as Dillon's Rule. Simply put, local governments enjoy powers only as state legislatures decide to grant them.
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Kansas water policy changes advance in Legislature
By John Milburn, Kansas City Star
Two pieces of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's proposal to revise the state's policies on water use cleared legislative hurdles on Thursday, moving a step closer to giving farmers and cities more flexibility in managing the limited resource.
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Kansas lawmakers warned to keep records of dinners with governor
By John Hanna, The Associated Press, Kansas City Star
A local prosecutor is warning Kansas legislators and Gov. Sam Brownback to preserve records and electronic files about gatherings at his official residence as "potentially relevant evidence" in an investigation into a newspaper's complaints that the sessions violated the state's open meetings act.
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Auditors may revisit Kansas Biosciences report
By The Associated Press, The Lawrence Journal-World
The firm hired to audit the Kansas Bioscience Authority following allegations of misconduct at the state-funded agency is considering issuing a supplemental report that would address questions about the thoroughness of its investigation, a firm official said.
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Rate grab
By Staff, The Lawrence Journal-World
Maybe it's the mild winter that spurred natural gas utilities to take a shot at getting the Kansas Legislature to approve a bill to enable them to establish interim rates without going through an approval process.
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Wide-ranging bill would clamp down on prescription drug abuse
By Laura Ungar, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Doctors and others who prescribe narcotic painkillers in Kentucky would be required to use the state's prescription-drug monitoring system under wide-ranging legislation introduced Thursday to combat prescription-drug abuse.
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Panel passes bill to verify worker legality
By Gregory A. Hall, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
A bill requiring state and local governments, schools and businesses with government contracts to use an online federal program to verify that employees aren't in the country illegally passed the House Labor and Industry Committee on Thursday.
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Kentucky casino gambling bill on hold, Beshear says
By Gregory A. Hall, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
After saying earlier this week that his casino gambling bill would be introduced in a few days, Gov. Steve Beshear conceded Thursday that questions over legislative redistricting will delay it.
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Kentucky, Indiana shrink pollution-control zones
By James Bruggers, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Failing to comply with air pollution rules can be seen as a black eye for any community, and it brings tougher regulations for areas deemed to be in violation.
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Bourbon industry booms despite economic recession
By The Associated Press, Bowling Green Daily News
Kentucky's bourbon industry has undergone its largest expansion since prohibition over the past two years, despite an economic recession that proved bothersome to most other employers in the state, Gov. Steve Beshear said Thursday.
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Beshear targets problem
By Deborah Highland, Bowling Green Daily News
Gov. Steve Beshear pledged Wednesday to combat the state's increasing problem of prescription drug abuse and said the solution lies in "bold and collaborative" approaches to the issue.
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University Hospital's operations to be reviewed with eye to future
By Patrick Howington, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
University Hospital's governing board announced Thursday that hospital operations will be reviewed to address questions about their "strengths and vulnerabilities" raised during debate over a proposed merger.
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A sea of drugs
By Staff, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
The summit Wednesday at the University of Kentucky on prescription drug abuse and addiction captured the severity and extent of an appalling problem.
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Jindal calls for resignation of teachers' leader
By Will Sentell, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)
Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday that the executive director of one of Louisiana's largest teacher unions should resign. Jindal has repeatedly criticized Michael Walker-Jones, a top official of the Louisiana Association of Educators, after Walker-Jones was quoted as saying that some parents in poverty may not have the time or information to make a decision on their child's education.
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Louisiana to replace mental hospital in Pineville
By The Associated Press, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Louisiana will build a new state mental hospital in Pineville to replace one built between 1906 and the 1950s. Central Louisiana State Hospital housed 3,128 patients at its peak in 1959. It now has only 60 beds, and many of the 84 buildings on its 400-acre campus are vacant and too dilapidated to repair, said Bruce Greenstein, secretary of health and hospitals.
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Critics of restoration projects financed by BP money say there should be more public input
By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
There should be more opportunities for the public to participate in assessing the damage to natural resources caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, residents of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes and representatives of several environmental groups said during public hearings Wednesday and Thursday. Restoration projects also should be approved more quickly, so oil spill damage can be reversed, several officials said.
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Maine GOP caucuses under way
By The Associated Press, Bangor Daily News
Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are considered the undisputed top contenders as Maine Republican Party caucuses to choose presidential favorites get under way in earnest this weekend across the state.
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Lawmakers hand LePage new DHHS budget proposal
By Eric Russell, Bangor Daily News
The chairmen of the Legislature's budget-writing committee presented Gov. Paul LePage on Thursday with a compromise proposal to address an estimated $220 million shortfall in the Department of Health and Human Services biennial budget.
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Feds give boost to O'Malley's wind-energy plan
By David Hill, The Washington Times
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's quest for offshore wind energy got a boost Thursday from the Obama administration, but state lawmakers still have concerns about its cost and whether there is corporate demand and congressional support for the technology.
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Feds give go ahead to offshore wind farms
By Pamela Wood, The Capital (Annapolis)
The effort to erect giant wind turbines off of Maryland's Atlantic Coast got a boost today. Federal officials announced the completion of an environmental review that found no negative effects of building wind farms over 80,000 acres of the Atlantic near Maryland.
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Debate over Komen's Planned Parenthood decision grows in Maryland, nation
By Andrea K. Walker, The Sun (Baltimore)
The inaugural Susan B. Komen breast cancer race scheduled for Ocean City in April was meant to be a feel-good event promoting a noble cause — and a way to boost tourism during the resort town's off-season. Now uncertainty surrounds it and other Komen events in Maryland and beyond, as fallout continues from the national organization's recent decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood.
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Firms vying for state contracts fund O'Malley-led group
By Annie Linskey, The Sun (Baltimore)
Companies seeking lucrative state contracts and business deals in Maryland made five- and six-figure contributions in recent months to a Democratic governors group led by Gov. Martin O'Malley, federal records show.
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Maryland public defender asks for stay in high court's ruling
By Tricia Bishop, The Sun (Baltimore)
The state would have to hire 284 new public defenders to comply with a recent Court of Appeals ruling requiring lawyers for indigent defendants at thousands of annual bail hearings, according to an affidavit filed Thursday by Maryland Public Defender Paul DeWolfe.
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Ruling -- Same-sex spouses get equal rights on custody
By John Zaremba, Boston Herald
Same-sex spouses have equal parental rights in cases of artificial insemination, the state appeals court said yesterday in a ruling that affirmed a Suffolk County woman as a mother to the child her ex-wife carried during their marriage.
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In redistricting's wake, Rep. Paul Adams opts to run for state Senate
By Matt Murphy, Boston Herald
Freshman Republican Rep. Paul Adams, redistricted by his colleagues out of his Andover-based seat, has decided to challenge state Sen. Barry Finegold in the fall rather than run against another freshman, Republican Rep. Jim Lyons, or follow through on his earlier pledge to move and run in a new majority-minority district in Lawrence.
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Lost lunch program weighs down private shelters
By Richard Weir, Boston Herald
Hungry homeless residents turned away from a city shelter that has stopped serving lunches are flocking to two private shelters in search of a midday meal, taxing their already strained budgets that have been buffeted by skyrocketing food prices.
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State Dems propose campaign, ethics laws
By Tim Martin, The Associated Press, Lansing State Journal
Democrats in the Michigan House on Thursday introduced proposals that would require personal financial disclosure forms for many public officials and put some restrictions on state-level political campaign donations.
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Minn. House speaker to back Romney
By Brian Bakst, The Associated Press, Brainerd Daily Dispatch
Minnesota's House speaker and majority leader planned Friday to endorse Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney days ahead of the state's political caucuses, according to a leading state Capitol Republican familiar with their intentions.
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Plans approved for conservation projects
By Stephanie Hemphill, Minnesota Public Radio (St. Paul)
The Minnesota Senate Environment Committee Thursday approved plans for nearly $1 million of Legacy Amendment money for conservation projects.
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In rare move, state shuts down child care center
By Rupa Shenoy, Minnesota Public Radio (St. Paul)
The state Department of Human Services says it has temporarily shut down a Brooklyn Center child care center because of concerns about the safety of children.
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Killer to fight return to Miss.
By Holbrook Mohr, The Associated Press, Hattiesburg American
A convicted murderer who left Mississippi after being pardoned by former Gov. Haley Barbour seems poised to fight attempts to force him to return from Wyoming.
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Bill on reporting sex abuse OK'd
By Emily Wagster Pettus, The Associated Press, Hattiesburg American
Supporters say a bill that passed in the Mississippi House on Thursday is aimed at stopping sexual abuse of minors, including cases involving underage girls who are impregnated by men age 20 or older.
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Universities say financial aid running short
By Jeff Amy, The Associated Press, Hattiesburg American
Recipients of state scholarships could see their aid packages trimmed unless the Mississippi Legislature puts more money into financial aid.
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Bryant aims to stretch Medicaid by payment changes
By Jeff Amy, The Associated Press, Hattiesburg American
Gov. Phil Bryant wants to perform a magic trick of sorts: reform Mississippi's Medicaid program so that it doesn't cost any more state money next year. Program officials were expecting costs to increase by 16 percent.
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Community colleges fear funding cut
By Jeff Amy, The Associated Press, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)
Leaders of Mississippi's community college system said the 5.5 percent cut in their budget proposed by Gov. Phil Bryant could lead to higher tuition, bigger classes and more part-time instructors.
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Missouri economic development chief resigns
By Jason Hancock, Kansas City Star
Gov. Jay Nixon's choice to run the Missouri Department of Economic Development resigned Thursday after the state Senate refused to approve his nomination.
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Mo. ban on waders takes effect March 1
By The Associated Press, Jefferson City News Tribune
Missouri conservation officials say a new ban on some waders worn by freshwater anglers takes effect next month.
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Mo. senators delay workplace discrimination vote
By Wes Duplantier, Jefferson City News Tribune
Minutes after reaching an agreement to end a filibuster effort that lasted nearly 15 hours, the Missouri Senate endorsed legislation early Thursday that would change the state's workplace discrimination laws.
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Congressional redistricting ruling due Friday
By Bob Watson, Jefferson City News Tribune
When it said Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green had to take evidence in two cases challenging the constitutionality of Missouri's newest congressional district lines, the state Supreme Court also said he had to issue his decision by Friday.
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University of Missouri campuses seek tuition increases
By Mara Rose Williams, Kansas City Star
Members of the University of Missouri Board of Curators winced at the numbers they heard. A full 9 percent increase in tuition needed for the science and engineering campus at Rolla, three times the rate of inflation.
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Craig Van Matre is out as a UM System curator
By Staff, The Columbia Missourian
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Craig Van Matre is disappointed that his run as curator for the University of Missouri System is over before it really got started.
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Lawmakers discuss sky lantern ban
By Kevin O'Hanlon, Lincoln Journal Star
Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber stepped out of his house the morning of July 5 and was startled by what he found on his front porch.
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Gears grind as Gingrich shifts to Nevada
By Trip Gabriel, The New York Times
LAS VEGAS — As Newt Gingrich seeks to remain a factor, not an also-ran, in the Republican presidential race, it sometimes seems as if the campaign vehicle meant to smoothly transport him to the nomination is more like the Joad family jalopy.
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Unity eludes Nevada tea party in GOP presidential race
By Amy Gardner and David Fahrenthold, The Washington Post
LAS VEGAS — In 2010, as the tea party rose to prominence, the movement splintered in Nevada and helped nominate Republican Sharron Angle in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.
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Paul sees Nevada as a better bet
By Michael R. Crittenden, The Wall Street Journal
HENDERSON, Nev. — Rep. Ron Paul wrote himself out of the story of Florida's Republican presidential primary, saying the cost of television advertising would be high in the state and the odds of winning any convention delegates low.
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Nevada poll gives Romney wide lead
By Dalia Sussman, The New York Times
Fresh off his strong win in Florida, Mitt Romney received more good news from a new poll in Nevada that showed him with a wide lead over Newt Gingrich just days before the state's caucuses.
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Paul -- States should resolve land management issues
By Scott Sonner, The Associated Press, The Boston Globe
ELKO, Nev. — Republican Rep. Ron Paul railed against the federal government during campaign stops in Nevada on Thursday, saying states are in the best position to resolve conflicts over the management of wild horses and roads on public lands.
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Senate panel seeks new nuclear waste repository
By Peter Urban, Las Vegas Review-Journal
WASHINGTON -- With Yucca Mountain politically unviable, energy policy leaders in the U.S. Senate are working on an "action plan" to address the urgent need to find a permanent disposal site for nuclear waste.
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New rules aim to prevent fraud at DMV offices
By Ed Vogel, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Steps have been taken to prevent any more DMV window clerks from accepting bribes in exchange for issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, the Nevada agency's director said Thursday.
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Ron Paul tailors his message of recovery to plight of Nevadans
By Karoun Demirjian, Las Vegas Sun
Nevada's no stranger to major economic announcements: Presidential candidate Mitt Romney launched his jobs plan here, and President Barack Obama came twice in the past few months to pitch the nation on his plans to correct the housing market and jump-start the national energy industries.
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Judge rejects law seeking to reform state pensions
By Paul Feely, The Union Leader (Manchester)
The ink was barely dry yesterday on a Merrimack County Superior Court decision saying it is illegal to ask longtime state employees to contribute more from their paychecks for their pensions before talk of a possible appeal began.
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Refugee moratorium called unconstitutional
By Garry Rayno, The Union Leader (Manchester)
A bill allowing communities to impose a one-year moratorium on refugee resettlements is probably unconstitutional, a law professor told a House committee Thursday.
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Prohibiting sobriety checkpoints opposed
By Garry Rayno, The Union Leader (Manchester)
Law enforcement, the attorney general and the House leadership turned out Thursday to oppose a bill that would prohibit sobriety checkpoints. The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee held a public hearing on House Bill 1452 and is expected to recommend the House kill the bill.
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N.J. Assembly committee advances bill to allow gay marriage
By MaryAnn Spoto, The Star-Ledger (Newark)
A state Assembly committee today approved legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry, setting the stage for a showdown in two weeks between Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Chris Christie, who has vowed to veto the measure.
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Gov hails new corporate headquarters
By Cara Townsend, Asbury Park Press
MADISON, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno joined Madison Mayor Bob Conley and other local officials Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony for Realogy's new corporate headquarters.
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Former MF Global official says he warned Corzine
By The Associated Press, Asbury Park Press
WASHINGTON — The former chief risk officer of MF Global says he warned then-CEO Jon Corzine in late 2010 of the risks in large bets on European government debt. Those bets sank the brokerage firm last fall.
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Bills restricting charter schools advance
By Jason Method, Asbury Park Press
Although Gov. Chris Christie wants to expand the use of charter schools as part of his education reform efforts, two bills that would restrict the alternative public schools cleared an Assembly committee Thursday.
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Plans for wind farms off N.J. coast advance with federal ruling
By Scott Fallon, The Record of Bergen County
The five-year-long effort to build wind farms off New Jersey's southern coast took another step forward Thursday, when federal officials said the turbines wouldn't have a major environmental impact on the mid-Atlantic seaboard.
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Christie calls lame-duck bills by Democrats 'a pile of crap'
By Tom Hester Sr., newjerseynewsroom.com
Gov. Chris Christie has used, well, colorful language again and a ranking Democratic Assemblyman has angrily responded. At his latest town hall meeting in Denville Thursday, Christie criticized the Democratic-controlled Legislature for not moving bills related to his agenda during the lame-duck session in December.
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Politics may derail Christie judicial nominees
By Alfred P. Doblin, The Record of Bergen County
The wagons are circling. You can hear the predatory birds overhead.On Wednesday, prominent Korean-Americans rallied in Hackensack in support of Phillip Kwon, one of Governor Christie's two nominees to the state Supreme Court.
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Offshore wind farm farther away, closer to reality
By Scott Harper, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)
Prospects for wind turbines churning out clean energy off the mid-Atlantic coast got brighter Thursday when federal officials unveiled safe areas where energy companies might build wind farms off Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
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Trio of bills push for new teacher evaluation system
By Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican
Teachers in New Mexico may be evaluated under a new system within a few years, if any of three legislative bills making their way through the Roundhouse this session are signed into law.
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House OKs proposals to revamp NM regulatory agency
By Barry Massey, The Associated Press, Santa Fe New Mexican
Proposals to streamline New Mexico's utility regulatory agency and establish minimum qualifications for its elected members sped through the House on Thursday.
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Key Cuomo aide picked to run new ethics panel
By James M. Odato, Times Union (Albany)
One of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top appointees is leaving his administration to become the first executive director of the state commission policing lobbying, legislative activities and the conduct of state officials. Inspector General Ellen Biben will assume the leadership of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics by the end of this month, Chairwoman Janet DiFiore said.
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Ethics pick questioned
By Jacob Gershman, The Wall Street Journal
At the urging of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, one of his most trusted deputies was chosen to run the state's overhauled ethics commission, a move that raised questions about the panel's independence.
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Workers' comp cost joins sick list
By Rick Karlin, Times Union (Albany)
Add skyrocketing workers' compensation rates to the list of costs that local governments will be passing on to property taxpayers.
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Bloomberg -- Use last rainy-day funds in budget plan
By The Associated Press, Times Union (Albany)
New York City should scrape dry the last of its rainy-day funds to balance next year's budget without new cutbacks or taxes, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday as he unveiled a $68.7 billion budget proposal that anticipates billions of dollars in deficits in years to come.
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Democrats ask to ease primary ballot access
By Jimmy Vielkind, Times Union (Albany)
Democrats on the state Board of Elections are proposing to lower the number of signatures candidates would need to get on the primary election ballot, according to papers filed in federal court.
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Albany is urged to let churches keep using schools
By John Eligon, The New York Times
With a little more than a week before New York City stops allowing churches to hold services in public schools, some lawmakers, churches and faith groups are desperately trying to push through legislation that would allow the practice to continue, while the affected congregations look for new homes and ponder uncertain futures.
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Bowles won't run for governor, but Etheridge joins race
By Rob Christensen, The Charlotte Observer
Erskine Bowles said Thursday that he would not run for governor, but other Democrats moved to fill the void with former Congressman Bob Etheridge announcing that he would seek his party's nomination.
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Exodus from legislature grows
By John Frank, The News & Observer (Raleigh)
State Rep. Joe Hackney, a 32-year veteran lawmaker and former speaker, said Thursday he would not seek another term, becoming the latest in a string of top Democrats to announce retirements in the past week.
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ACLU warns about prayers in legislature
By Craig Jarvis, John Frank and Franco Ordonez, The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The American Civil Liberties Union N.C. Legal Foundation is making good on its promise to stop the state General Assembly from saying predominantly Christian prayers at the opening of every day's session.
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Ex-speaker Hackney won't run for N.C. House in 2012
By The Associated Press, The Winston-Salem Journal
Former two-term Speaker Joe Hackney announced Thursday he wouldn't seek re-election to his House seat this year after more than 30 years in the legislature.
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Speakers tout safety of fracking practices
By Staff, The News & Record (Greensboro)
Speakers from the American Petroleum Institute, the lobbying arm for the oil and gas industry, said Thursday that the energy industry's self-policing standards should serve as a model for how North Carolina can regulate natural gas exploration and "fracking."
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Feds won't investigate NC racial profiling charge
By The Associated Press, The Winston-Salem Journal
The U.S. Justice Department is refusing to investigate allegations of racial profiling by Fayetteville police, although officials say the "consent searches" raised concerns.
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NAACP files lawsuit over NC county voting rules
By The Associated Press, The Winston-Salem Journal
The NAACP has filed a lawsuit over a North Carolina law that will leave thousands of Guilford County residents without representation on the local board of commissioners until 2014.
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Debate rises over future of N.C. public education
By Lynn Bonner, The News & Observer (Raleigh)
State Board of Education Chairman Bill Harrison is asking his members to champion public education in a political environment where lawmakers are increasingly open to alternatives.
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Governor says now is the time to build on success
By Nick Smith, The Bismarck Tribune
With past initiatives to stimulate economic development and improving the state's business climate well established, now is the time to work on further expanding and diversifying the employment and cultural opportunities for North Dakotans.
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ND Dem gov candidate raises $46K
By The Associated Press, The Bismarck Tribune
North Dakota Democratic governor candidate Ryan Taylor said he's raised more than $46,000 for his campaign.
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State officials look at ag land value options
By Nick SMith, The Bismarck Tribune
State officials who hosted an informational meeting with producer groups last week explaining a nearly 30 percent average increase in agricultural land values in 2012, say they're committed to continuing dialogue with groups and elected officials interested in addressing the issue.
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Nickname supporters make final push
By Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald
A leader of the petition drive to restore UND's Fighting Sioux nickname through a statewide vote said Thursday that "we're in striking distance" of the 13,500 signatures needed by Tuesday's filing deadline.
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UND Fighting Sioux nickname vote push extends across North Dakota
By Chuck Haga, The Forum (Fargo)
Just five days from the deadline, a leader of the effort to put the shelved Fighting Sioux nickname to a statewide vote said the petitioning is extending to cities across the state as organizers get in "striking distance" of the needed 13,500 signatures.
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BRAC lacks support in Congress
By Ryan Johnson, Grand Forks Herald
North Dakota's congressional delegation remains strongly opposed to a new round of domestic military base closures, and they said today there appears to be little support in Congress for the plan that could put the future of Grand Forks Air Force Base in jeopardy.
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Fargo city leaders look into pension reform
By Kristen Daum, The Forum (Fargo)
City leaders were briefed on the ins and outs of pension systems Thursday, as part of a monthslong effort to review and potentially change city employees' retirement benefits.
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SD event focuses on oil boom's problems, potential
By The Associated Press, Rapid City Journal
North Dakota's oil boom brings with it tremendous wealth and enormous problems _ and both are coming to South Dakota, say organizers of a Thursday night event dubbed "Coming Down the Pipe."
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Impose windfall tax on 'fracking,' group says
By Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch
As " fracking" for natural gas and oil sweeps Ohio, the state should benefit from a windfall-profit tax and landowners should be protected by a bill of rights, a liberal policy group recommended yesterday.
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Langenderfer out of GOP primary for Ohio house seat
By Mark Gokavi, Dayton Daily News
XENIA — Saying it "wasn't my time" and not being able to raise the financial or political capital needed, attorney John Langenderfer dropped out of the Republican March 6 primary for the 73rd District seat in the Ohio House of Representatives.
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Panel sends list of PUCO nominees to Kasich
By Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch
A current and a former state lawmaker and a veteran state utility employee are finalists for a spot on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
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State seeks to close group homes
By Catherine Candisky, The Columbus Dispatch
The state wants to shut 19 group homes for troubled youth operated by a Dublin company after an investigation revealed teens were drinking alcohol and smoking pot, popping pills from an unlocked medicine cabinet, and youngsters and staff were bitten by fleas from a dead raccoon.
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Early filing date presents challenges for Oklahoma legislators
By Staff, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
In the course of ensuring that our military men and women abroad have the chance to vote, Oklahoma policymakers may have significantly altered what gets accomplished — or not — during the 2012 legislative session that begins next week.
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Low natural gas prices concern Oklahoma state treasurer
By Michael McNutt, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
Declining natural gas prices may dash hopes that legislators would have more money than estimated in December to appropriate this session, state Treasurer Ken Miller said Thursday.
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Without timber money, budgets face buzzsaw
By Joel Millman, The Wall Street Journal
GOLD BEACH, Ore. — With this year's expiration of a federal program designed to compensate Oregonians for declining timber sales, counties statewide are losing an allotment that has totaled $2.6 billion since 2000.
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'Penn State' bill introduced in House Education Committee
By Janie Har, The Oregonian (Portland)
Oregon's House Education Committee will hear a proposal today to expand the kinds of people required to report child abuse, adding higher education employees and youth volunteers to the list.
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Governor backs bill siding with Facebook
By Queenie Wong, Statesman Journal (Salem)
The state moved closer this week to providing companies such as Facebook assurance they won't face higher property taxes in enterprise zones.
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Rally demands education reform
By Stefanie Knowlton, Statesman Journal (Salem)
Students of color and those still learning English continue to drop out in greater numbers than their peers, advocates for those groups said Thursday at the state Capitol.
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Ore. bill would require coaches to report abuse
By The Associated Press, Corvallis Gazette-Times
In the wake of a child sex abuse scandal that rocked Penn State University, lawmakers in Oregon are considering a new requirement for coaches and other university employees to report child abuse to authorities.
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Komen should put health before politics
By Carol McAlice Currie, Statesman Journal (Salem)
Is this what Susan would have done? In what many hope will be a short-lived stroke of shortsightedness, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization announced recently that it no longer would share a sliver of its flush funding with Planned Parenthood.
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Targeted lawmakers stuck in 'political limbo'
By Rachel Weaver, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
State Sen. James Brewster expected to file nomination petitions with the state on Thursday bearing 1,000 signatures he got from constituents in the 45th District.
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Corbett may boost small-game limits
By Karen Kane, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After talking about it for more than a decade, state legislators have given Gov. Tom Corbett a bill that boosts bingo and other small-games-of-chance jackpots -- and also potentially boosts the fundraising abilities of veterans groups, fire companies, church organizations and social clubs across the state.
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Corbett reasserts position on drilling consistency
By Laura Olson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Gov. Tom Corbett is reinforcing his position that local rules for natural-gas drillers need to be more uniform across the state, and now is speaking favorably of the proposal to do so that passed the House and Senate late last year.
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Concern in Pa. about weight of trucks on bridges
By The Associated Press, Erie Times-News
PITTSBURGH -- Pennsylvania's bridges have a weight problem. Officials have posted restrictions on more than 2,000 spans because of deterioration or other defects.
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Some of Pennsylvania's budget woes harken back to corporate tax change
By Brendan Finucane & Steven Burg, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)
Recent state agency reports have documented that corporate profit levels are robust and corporate net profit margins are at historic highs. They also have reported that more than 50 percent of the state's midyear budget gap is due to the $260 million shortfall in corporate tax revenue.
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Chafee seeks automatic raises for his top directors
By Katherine Gregg, The Providence Journal
Governor Chafee, citing "fairness,'' wants state agency directors, whose salaries ranged last year from $94,769 to $156,876, to get raises anytime the state's unionized employees get one.
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S.C. State transit center moves ahead
By Diane Knich, The Post and Courier (Charleston)
Despite failing in its most recent bid to bring in program money for its troubled transportation center, South Carolina State University is forging ahead with construction on the first phase of a research complex.
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SC employers, Guard discuss jobs for female vets
By The Associated Press, Spartanburg Herald-Journal
A group of South Carolina business leaders and the top female general in the South Carolina National Guard are meeting to discuss ways to help female military veterans get back into the workforce.
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House panel OKs cutting DOT commission
By Tim Smith, The Greenville News
Facing a crumbling infrastructure and a transportation secretary who must report both to the governor and a highway commission, lawmakers are debating how to reorganize the agency, five years after their last attempt at reforming the department.
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DOT should end charade if Jackson doesn't
By Staff, The State (Columbia)
Although Richland County Councilman Norman Jackson insists he hasn't done anything wrong, a federal administrative law judge rightly determined that Mr. Jackson is in violation of the law that prohibits public employees whose jobs use federal money from seeking office in partisan elections.
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State desegregation pioneer dies at 102
By Robert J. Baker, The State (Columbia)
Viola Clark Pearson, widow of Levi Pearson, the first person to push in the courts for school equality in South Carolina, is being remembered for fighting the good fight alongside her husband.
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Daugaard -- Vote on program could harm development
By The Associated Press, Rapid City Journal
South Dakota's efforts to attract new companies and help existing ones expand could be hurt by the public vote scheduled for November on a new business grant program, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said Thursday.
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Daugaard -- Don't kill business development fund
By Peter Harriman, Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)
Gov. Dennis Daugaard and South Dakota legislative leaders, in three separate news conferences Thursday, celebrated Bel Brands USA's decision to build a new $100 million cheese manufacturing plant in Brookings that could ultimately employ 400 people.
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SD bill to regulate abortion-service ads killed
By The Associated Press, Rapid City Journal
A measure seeking to bar false advertising by pregnancy help centers that discourage abortions was rejected Thursday by a South Dakota House panel after abortion rights advocates and abortion opponents accused each other of misleading women.
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SD event focuses on oil boom's problems, potential
By The Associated Press, Rapid City Journal
North Dakota's oil boom brings with it tremendous wealth and enormous problems _ and both are coming to South Dakota, say organizers of a Thursday night event dubbed "Coming Down the Pipe."
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Lawmakers to speak at Democratic Forum
By Staff, Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)
State legislators will discuss a proposal to eliminate the rights of public employees to collectively bargain and the governor's education plan today during the Democratic Forum in Sioux Falls.
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TN lawmakers discuss reducing sales tax
By The Associated Press, The Tennessean (Nashville)
The Republican sponsor of a proposal to reduce the sales tax on groceries in Tennessee said Wednesday he's open to working with Democrats who have a similar measure if it would help the legislation's passage.
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Planned Parenthood sues Tennessee Health Department over funding loss
By Sara Patterson, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
Claiming they've been singled out for providing abortions to women, Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region is suing the state Department of Health to regain about $150,000 in grant contracts for HIV prevention and syphilis elimination dropped by the state in December.
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Governor Bill Haslam hints at second Chattanooga Amazon facility
By Mike Pare, Chattanooga Times Free Press
New Amazon distribution centers such as the one in Chattanooga will vault Tennessee to the top three among states in terms of the Internet retailer's footprint, officials said Thursday. And Amazon officials, who gave Gov. Bill Haslam his first look at the 1 million-square-foot Chattanooga center, hinted that the online retailer's presence could grow in Hamilton County.
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TN GOP lawmakers building support for health-care session
By The Associated Press, The Tennessean (Nashville)
Republican lawmakers are building support for a plan to wait until the end of the year to take action on state requirements set by President Barack Obama's federal health care law.
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TN GOP urges more early voting locations
By Brian Wilson, The Tennessean (Nashville)
State and local Republicans expressed concern Thursday that residents of Bellevue and Belle Meade don't have any early voting locations, but the Davidson County Election Commission made no commitment to give them one.
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Texas' haul from BP spill -- $100 million, and counting
By Kate Galbraith, The Texas Tribune
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas -- Sand dunes rise above a windy, desolate stretch of beach, miles beyond where most tourists venture. Occasional flocks of brown pelicans are visible, arcing through the sky above the water.
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Message of a new crop of Republican candidates -- It's not just about cuts
By Ross Ramsey, The Texas Tribune, The New York Times
Two years ago, the Republican primary was teeming with angry conservatives stirred up by federal fiscal policy. Not all of them were Tea Party members, but all of them seemed to get labeled that way. Whatever the description, their effect on last year's legislative session was clear.
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LIttle agreement on how to fix school finance system
By Ben Philpott, The Texas Tribune
A teachers group has urged Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session to address education funding, but there's still plenty of disagreement on what fixing the school funding system would actually mean.
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Herbert steps from sideline to endorse Mitt Romney
By Thomas Burr, The Salt Lake Tribune
WASHINGTON - Utah Gov. Gary Herbert endorsed presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday after months of staying on the sidelines in the race in which Herbert's former boss, ex-Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, was also competing.
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Utah Legislature- Bill would crack down on smoke shops
By Andrea Whatcott, The Salt Lake Tribune
A House Committee on Thursday blocked a proposal that would have required tobacco shop owners to undergo a criminal background check before getting a business license, but approved the measure on a 7-4 vote after it was softened.
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Is higher education in Utah getting enough state funding?
By Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune
Anticipating a boost in tax revenues next fiscal year, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is calling for a 1 percent increase in compensation for state employees — except those who work for colleges and universities.
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Bill to regulate non-lawyer immigration consultants advances to the Senate
By Marjorie Cortez, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
A bill to regulate non-attorney "immigration consultants" and prevent predatory practices in the immigrant community advanced to the full Senate Thursday afternoon, following a debate where one lawmaker called it a restraint on trade that won't benefit consumers.
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Guv to get hire, fire power over key higher ed. officials
By Ladd Brubaker, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
On a close 39-34 vote, the Utah House gave final legislative approval to a bill to give the governor direct authority in the hiring and firing of the state's Commissioner of Higher Education or the president of the Utah College of Applied Technology.
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AG office spent $85,000 defending HB497 in 2011
By Ladd Brubaker, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
The Utah Attorney General's Office spent more than $85,000 in 2011 defending the state against a federal lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of Utah's immigration enforcement law, according to data released Thursday by a group also opposed to the law.
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Bills to repeal guest-worker law, driving card emerge
By David Montero, The Salt Lake Tribune
Sen. Steve Urquhart is making good on a promise to push the repeal of key immigration reforms and Friday will publicly unveil bills to scrap the state's guest worker law and the driving privilege card.
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Usurping local control
By Staff, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
The battle over whether states have authority to dictate to local governments was effectively settled in 1868. That was the year Iowa Supreme Court Justice John Dillon wrote an opinion that has become known as Dillon's Rule. Simply put, local governments enjoy powers only as state legislatures decide to grant them.
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Vermont House endorses mental health reform
By Nancy Remsen, Burlington Free Press
After years of talk without reaching consensus, the Vermont House took the first step Thursday toward revamping the state's mental health system and replacing the now-closed state psychiatric hospital.
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Full Senate to take up one-gun-a-month repeal
By Jim Nolan, Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Virginia Senate is poised to pass legislation today to lift the state's 18-year-old restriction on purchasing more than one handgun a month.
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'Conscience' adoption bill wins initial OK in Virginia
By David Sherfinski, The Washington Times
The Virginia House of Delegates on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would protect state-licensed private adoption agencies from placing children with families if the placement conflicts with the agency's religious beliefs.
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Bill advances to give leeway to private adoption agencies
By Wesley P. Hester, Richmond Times-Dispatch
A bill to protect a private adoption agency's right to refuse placement based on religious beliefs has advanced to its final reading in the House of Delegates today, where it is all but certain to pass.
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One abortion curb fails, another advances
By Wesley P. Hester and Jim Nolan, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Social conservatives emboldened by Republican gains in the General Assembly in November suffered a major setback Thursday when a Senate committee deadlocked on a bill to prohibit women from having an abortion beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy. But today, the House of Delegates appears ready to pass a bill to defund state-paid abortions for low-income women expecting a child with "gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency" after the chamber advanced the measure Thursday.
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Pre-abortion ultrasound -- Too invasive?
By Julian Walker, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)
In a week dominated by abortion debate, foes of ultrasound legislation say that an overlooked aspect of the proposed law is how invasive it will be. Determining gestational age early in a pregnancy often requires an internal probe rather than a scan over the stomach.
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Offshore wind farm farther away, closer to reality
By Scott Harper, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)
Prospects for wind turbines churning out clean energy off the mid-Atlantic coast got brighter Thursday when federal officials unveiled safe areas where energy companies might build wind farms off Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
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National forces likely to lead on gay-marriage referendum effort
By Lornet Turnbull, The Seattle Times
With same-sex marriage virtually assured in Washington state, opponents seeking to undo it are looking ahead to summer and fall, and to a campaign they say will draw on the resources of national organizations that have waged and won these kinds of fights.
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House GOP's budget spends $580M more on education
By Brad Shannon, The Olympian
House Republicans offered a "fund education first" budget Thursday, highlighting what they depicted as $580 million more for K-12 public schools than Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget would allocate.
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Ballot challenge is certain for state's gay-marriage bill
By Rachel La Corte, The Associated Press, The Olympian
Washington state is likely to become the seventh state to legalize same-sex within the next two weeks, but opponents have already promised a ballot challenge would halt any summertime weddings.
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Looks like liquor prices to go up, over fees from Initiative 1183
By Melisa Alison, The Seattle Times
One month before distributors start selling liquor to restaurants and bars in Washington, 15 companies have applied for licenses to distribute the spirits — and their discussions with distilleries indicate prices on liquor in Washington may climb.
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State seeks bill to require reporting of abuse
By Stephanie Kim, The News Tribune (Tacoma)
Reacting to recent alleged child-abuse cases, including the Penn State scandal, Washington state lawmakers are considering legislation that would expand the pool of people required to report suspected abuse to authorities.
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GOP claims to spare K-12
By Brad Shannon, The News Tribune (Tacoma)
House Republicans offered a "fund education first" budget Thursday, highlighting what they depicted as $580 million more for K-12 public schools than Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget would allocate.
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National forces likely to lead on gay-marriage referendum effort
By Lornet Turnbull, The Seattle Times
With same-sex marriage virtually assured in Washington state, opponents seeking to undo it are looking ahead to summer and fall, and to a campaign they say will draw on the resources of national organizations that have waged and won these kinds of fights.
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West Virginians concerned about Komen/Parenthood dispute
By Paul J. Nyden, Charleston Gazette
Although the growing dispute between reproductive health-care provider Planned Parenthood and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure might not affect West Virginia directly, local leaders of both groups say they're worried about impacts from the dispute.
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State cracker chase enters waiting phase
By The Associated Press, Charleston Gazette
West Virginia's hunt for a multibillion-dollar chemical plant has come down to talks between potential investors and private property owners, Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette said Thursday.
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State's future is 'bright,' leaders say
By Megan Workman, Charleston Gazette
Speakers at the South Charleston Chamber of Commerce's 20th annual "Groundhog Breakfast" on Thursday expressed the same outlook for the city and state's economic forecast -- bright.
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Tomblin expects lawmakers to OK miner drug testing
By The Associated Press, Charleston Gazette
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said Thursday he believes lawmakers will quickly come to agreement and pass his proposed mine safety legislation, including a provision that calls for mandatory drug testing of coal miners.
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State autism law in jeopardy, supporters warn
By Lawrence Messina, The Associated Press, Charleston Gazette
West Virginia's new law extending health care coverage to children with autism may not do what its supporters intended, and a fight is brewing with insurers over pending legislation on the subject.
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Legislators must deal with Lincoln County
By Staff, Charleston Daily Mail
On May 8, Democratic voters in Lincoln County face the prospect of nominating disgraced former assessor Jerry Weaver — who pleaded guilty in 2005 of vote-buying from the 1990s to 2004 — for the post of sheriff.
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Democrat Cullen bows out of governor's race
By The Associated Press, La Crosse Tribune
Democratic state Sen. Tim Cullen bowed out of the governor's race today, saying he can't raise the money to compete with better-known opponents and he has no desire to participate in what he said was going to be a "political war.
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Recall cash spigot now wide open
By Staff, La Crosse Tribune
It's difficult to write about the levels of money now being pumped into Wisconsin's electoral process without using terms like "jaw-dropping" and "eye-popping." It's a wonder we can still recognize ourselves in the mirror, with all these contortions.
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Walker to speak at Florida event
By The Associated Press, La Crosse Tribune
Gov. Scott Walker is scheduled to speak next week at a Florida event hosted by the conservative James Madison Institute.
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Republican candidate for Senate Mark Neumann received stimulus money
By Scott Bauer, The Associated Press, The Post-Crescent (Appleton)
The leading Tea Party-backed Republican candidate running for Wisconsin's open U.S. Senate seat who also has been a longtime critic of a federal stimulus program received more than $80,000 in stimulus grants for his own solar energy company.
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State adopts new gas flaring rules
By Trevor Brown, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne)
Top state officials and education advocates say a new natural-gas flaring policy is a "step forward" to securing more royalties for minerals on state school trust lands.
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EPA official defends Pavillion fracking report
By Mead Gruver, The Associated Press, Casper Star-Tribune
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in no way contends that a draft report on groundwater pollution in Wyoming could apply to hydraulic fracturing in any other part of the U.S., an EPA official told a U.S. House subcommittee.
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Wyoming- Free speech not stifled in abortion case
By Ben Neary, The Associated Press, Casper Star-Tribune
The state of Wyoming denied that its previous policy governing the display of materials in a tunnel leading to the state Capitol blocked an anti-abortion group from exercising its constitutionally protected free speech.
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Glenrock company fined $13,500 in oil blast
By Mead Gruver, The Associated Press, Casper Star-Tribune
Wyoming workplace safety regulators are seeking $13,500 in fines against a Glenrock company for an oil facility explosion that killed three workers northeast of Casper.
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States mulling creativity indexes for schools
By Erik W. Robelen, Education Week
At a time when U.S. political and business leaders are raising concerns about the need to better nurture creativity and innovative thinking among young people, several states are exploring the development of an index that would gauge the extent to which schools provide opportunities to foster those qualities.
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Gallup -- More states trended Republican in 2011
By Michael A. Memoli, Los Angeles Times
The number of states with a clear Republican advantage doubled in 2011, part of a larger trend of states shifting into the GOP column, according to new Gallup data.
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States split over traffic cameras
By Jason Noble, The Des Moines Register, USA Today
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Drivers who want to know about traffic cameras face a hodgepodge of laws across the country concerning their use.
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States seek currencies made of silver and gold
By Blake Ellis, CNN
NEW YORK -- Worried that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. dollar are on the brink of collapse, more than a dozen states have proposed using their own alternative currencies of silver and gold.
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