State Legislatures articles from September 2003

State Legislatures archives from September 2003

Kansas representative has gone 'paperless' too.(Letters)
September 1, 2003... Dear Editor: I appreciated your articles on the use of technology in legislative offices in the June 2003 issue of State Legislatures. As a freshman legislator and the youngest woman in the Kansas Legislature, I started the year by going...

How to make methamphetamine.(Letters)
September 1, 2003... Editor: Your article on page 9 in the July/August issue of State Legislatures discusses how stone states are trying to prevent the manufacture of methamphetamine. In the accompanying box titled "Everything but the Kitchen Sink...," Drano...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2003... One of the graphs on the Statestats page, "New Laws for Young Drivers," in the June issue of State Legislatures magazine contains incorrect information. This is the correct version. [GRAPHIC OMITTED]

States encourage hunting.(Statestats)
September 1, 2003... Hunting brings millions into state economies each year, but it is diminishing. The number of people buying licenses dropped to 12.4 million in 2001, from 14.1 million 10 years before. Over the past five years, there was a 7 percent decline...

Ohio marks 200 years as 17th state.(On First Reading)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... It's a birthday party of almost epic proportions. Ohio began celebrating 200 years of statehood this summer. And the birthday bash will continue through October. In preparation for the gala, dozens of community historical markers were...

States win innovation awards.(On First Reading)
September 1, 2003... New York discovered a key to preventing drug offender recidivism. Ohio lured rural students into college. And Vermont managed to squeeze the most out of its energy programs. These three projects reaped awards and recognition this spring for...

Plans in works to strengthen community health centers.(On First Reading)
September 1, 2003... Although it reads like a local-federal partnership, there's a vital role for state governments in President George Bush's Initiative to Expand Health Centers. Even with severe budget constraints, Congress has approved a $122 million...

Putting a bee in legislators' bonnets.(On First Reading)
September 1, 2003... Trucks carrying 400 to 500 hives of honeybees travel up Interstate 95 from Florida and other southern states to Maine each year to help the blueberry crop. These colonies are often moved from state to state, making goldenrod honey in New...

Ferrets come out of the closet.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Some people love them. Others are afraid they could upset ecosystems if they escape into the wild. That's why it's been illegal to own ferrets in California. But the Legislature is close to passing a bill that will legalize the tiny relatives...

Living on the edge.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... A state boundary last set in 1840 between Rhode Island and Connecticut is in dispute. Seems the nine stone markers between North Stonington, Conn., and Hopkinton, R.I., aren't clear enough anymore. Digital mapping cut a straight line from a...

The great outdoors.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... For a good time, Idaho residents are the most likely to head outdoors. A report by the Outdoor Industry Foundation found that 87 percent of Idaho's population participate in at least one outdoor activity (such as backpacking, fly fishing, bird...

Punishing ecosabotage.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Oregon Senate has passed a measure aimed at cracking down on radical environmentalists who sabotage farms, timber operations and research facilities. Firebombing car dealerships, torching timber companies and destroying agricultural...

From fairway to roadway.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Maine now joins a number of states in allowing motorists to drive low-speed electric vehicles (souped-up golf carts) on streets with speed limits of 35 mph or less. Twenty states have passed such laws, according to the Insurance Institute for...

A new job search.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Hoping to turn research into jobs for New Mexicans, the state's research institutions have banded together to form the Technology Research Corridor. The group's job will be to transform discoveries from research into marketable commodities,...

A flood of water bottles.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Pure, natural, bottled water has become the in thing in California as elsewhere, but a problem is bubbling up. The water may be good for the body, but its containers are not. The discarded plastic bottles (more than 1 billion a year, 3 million...

I do, but later.(Stateline marriage law)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Alabama has decided to raise the minimum age from 14 to 16 for children to get married with parental permission. "I don't think a 14-year-old or 15-year-old is capable of entering into marriage. To me that is too young," said Representative...

Questionable coverage.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... About a dozen states, according to amednews.com, are investigating or have shut down companies they believe are selling liability insurance without a license. Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio and Oregon have...

The power in e-newsletters.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Florida Monitor Weekly may serve as an excellent model for other states interested in increasing the visibility of their state legislature while providing a service to policy analysts, program evaluators and researchers. The Weekly is a...

Heart to heart.(Stateline defibrillators)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Illinois Representative Timothy Osmond worked hard to get defibrillators placed in public places before he died of a heart attack last year. As a paramedic, he knew firsthand how they saved lives. Portable, lightweight and easy to use, the...

A Chinese fortune.(Stateline China-Arkansas relations)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... China's consul general recently presented the Arkansas State Library with 270 books, CDs and videos about his country's literature and culture. The donation was made to help build a closer relationship between China and Arkansas. The books and...

Hunger persists.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The highest rates of hunger exist mainly in the West and South, according to a Brandeis University research team at the Center on Hunger and Poverty. The study compared hunger and food insecurity (not knowing where your next meal is coming...

Waste not.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... New Jersey officials are considering lifting a long-standing ban and dramatically expanding the use of human waste as a fertilizer, allowing treated sewage to be spread on permanently preserved farms, parks, wildlife management areas and...

What's wrong with our schools? Our education system is the best in the world ... or not ... depending on where you sit in the classroom. This is the first in a six-month examination of American education and the policy efforts to improve it.
September 1, 2003... It was 20 years ago last spring that the American people were told, in eve-of-destruction fashion, that the nation's schools were so lax and unfocused that they posed an imminent risk to the nation's economic security. In a now-famous phrase,...

How do we make our schools better? The experts speak out: Richard Colvin asked five leading education experts for their ideas on improving American education.
September 1, 2003... SUSAN H. FUHRMAN DEAN GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: "There are no magic bullets. I'd like to see us focusing much less on structure--much less on charter schools or choice or other kinds of structural...

Education: America's No. 1 Priority: polls show that we value education above all else.
September 1, 2003... Four years ago, the Public Education Network and Education Week began a series of annual public opinion polls to find out more about what public education means to our society and what we can do as voters, citizens, taxpayers and public...

A test of values: the choices our elected officials make to close huge budget gaps tell you what their priorities are.(Where we stand: the AFT on critical issues)(Editorial)
September 1, 2003... What are we saying as a nation when our children return for a new school year only to find that favorite teachers and school staff have been pink-slipped; class sizes have swelled; and after-school programs and art, music, and foreign language...

Putting the financial squeeze on schools: once sacrosanct, even K-12 is feeling the pinch of a stagnant economy.
September 1, 2003... It doesn't seem that long ago when many states had enough money to cut taxes, bolster rainy day funds and increase education funding. But, oh, how times have changed. Education finance is currently facing a "perfect storm," with a...

Driving hazards: the phone factor: many things can distract drivers, but mobile phones are today's focus.
September 1, 2003... If you have driven a car lately, chances are good that something has diverted your attention away from the road. Maybe you are the driver who looked down to tune your radio. Perhaps your head swiveled to stare at an interesting lawn gnome...

Oregon quietly rejects federal health money: fearing federal strings, Oregon legislators have turned down a $2.2 million CDC grant to battle obesity.
September 1, 2003... Word that Oregon had received a $2.2 million federal grant to fight obesity and prevent chronic diseases associated with it was cause for celebration at the state Department of Human Services. The money, which would be used to promote...

Saving electricity: energy efficient appliances mean consumer savings and less strain on power supplies.
September 1, 2003... Waste not, want not--and save, save, save. That is the motto behind energy efficiency. Cutting energy and trimming the amount needed to keep our lives humming leads to savings. And one way to do that is by using energy-frugal appliances that...