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29 Mar 2009 11:05

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U.S.: Fargo’s mayor: We’re not out of the woods yet with this flood

  • The campus is basically devastated. They fought the good fight. They lost and there’s nothing wrong with that. Those things will continue to happen. I guarantee it.
  • Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker • On the fate of Oak Grove Lutheran School, which flooded after a flood wall broke last night, sadly. Flood levels will be at dangerously high levels for another week, so this could happen again. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2009 17:45

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U.S.: The flooded Red River appears to have crested. Whew.

  • The good news, or shall we say the cautiously optimistic news, is that the river is behaving rather nicely for us now.
  • Greg Gust • National Weather Service spokesperson, on the lowering levels of the Red River, which should pose relief for North Dakota cities, specifically Fargo. At 41 feet, it’s still higher than the area’s ever seen. As we’ve said before, fingers crossed, guys. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2009 17:08

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U.S.: The erupting Mount Redoubt is making a pretty tall impression

  • 50,000 foot-high volcanic ash. Whoa. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2009 14:47

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Offbeat, U.S.: Good news! A colonel wants to help fix our nation’s potholes.

Unfortunately, it’s Colonel Sanders, replete with KFC logos and advertising-ese. Sorry for being misleading. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2009 14:08

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Politics, U.S.: The Republican who nearly joined Obama’s cabinet has beef

  • In the next five years, President Obama’s budget will double the national debt. In the next 10 years, it will triple the national debt.
  • Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH • On Barack Obama’s budget plan and how it will saddle future generations with heavy debt. He says Obama’s plans “represent an extraordinary move of our government to the left.” Gregg nearly became commerce secretary but backed off after finding the ideological differences to be too extreme. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2009 13:32

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U.S.: The WTC-replacing “Freedom Tower” gets a little less free

  • The fact is, more than $3 billion of public money is invested in that building, and, as a public agency, we have the responsibility to make sure it is completed and that we utilize the best strategy to make certain it is fully occupied.
  • Stephen Sigmund • Spokesman for the Port Authority, on changing the name of “Freedom Tower” to the not-as-free-sounding “One World Trade Center.” We’re sure some nutjobs are going to claim the name changed because Bush isn’t in office, but we personally blame the proliferation of rapping flight attendants. Because that makes just as much sense. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2009 12:23

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U.S.: Update on North Dakota floodwaters; when will it crest?

  • 42 feet, 7 a.m. Sunday; that’s the current estimate. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Mar 2009 00:31

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U.S.: Those evil juvenile court judges sound like cartoon bad guys

  • We did what we could to stop it. There were so many red flags that no one could mistake them as any other color.
  • Luzerne County, Pa. Commissioner Stephen A. Urban • On the Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Judge Michael T. Conahan, who screwed over hundreds of kids by sending them to detention centers, receiving kickbacks that allowed them to chill at a resort home in Florida. Everyone knew something sketchy was going on but they had an iron grip over the court. Actual justice has finally been served and now they’re going to jail. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 19:04

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U.S.: An ode to New York’s Rockefeller drug laws. We won’t miss you.

  • What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing. source
  • What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing.
  • Their effect The laws often forced judges to sentence even minor drug offenders with the same broad stroke, filling prisons with first-time offenders getting sent there instead of rehab, which would often have made a lot more sense considering the nature of their crimes. source
  • What were they? Back in the 1970s, Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in an attempt to stem a drug-related “reign of terror,” got a series of laws passed that were the toughest in the nation at the time, and led to a controversial trend towards mandatory minimum sentencing.
  • Their effect The laws often forced judges to sentence even minor drug offenders with the same broad stroke, filling prisons with first-time offenders getting sent there instead of rehab, which would often have made a lot more sense considering the nature of their crimes.
  • Cost savings There’s a lot of reasons the laws are getting peeled back now, but the biggest reason is cost. Keeping prison in prisons isn’t cheap, and repealing this law would cut the prison population by thousands, making more room for inmates like Bernard Madoff. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 17:51

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U.S.: Cutting it close: Fargo faces its great test from the N.D. floods

  • 40.6 feet the level of the heavily-flooded Red River this morning; it’s been making life hell in North Dakota this week source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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