In Colorado, where just last month The Colorado Independent sued the Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) for violating the Opening Meetings Act-we had revealed the panel had beenmeeting in secret at least 85 percent of the time-the IEC finally moved toward more transparent procedures.

In New Mexico, where we had reported on questionable practices in the state’s affordable-housing system, former Region III Housing Authority Director Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos and others were indicted by grand juries in that long-standing investigation into the misuse of bond money.

In Iowa, state lawmakers finally called for public hearings on the state’s rules on coal-ash dumping after The Iowa Independent’s dug into state-waived disposal at unlined former quarries and mines. And in Michigan, EPA officials finally announced new plans to clean up Dow Chemical’s dioxin contamination of the Saginaw River watershed. Very few promises were made-except, on two issues that The Michigan Messenger’s Eartha Jane Melzer had first reported in depth. The EPA agreed to test for dioxin in the affected municipal water supplies, which hasn’t been done before, and it committed to posting updated and accurate fish consumption advisories along the affected rivers. Although Dow had come to an agreement with the state to post the fish advisories, the state was never able to enforce the deal. The EPA said it would fund the signs if Dow didn’t.

We’ll keep watch on that.

Best regards,

 

 

National security reporter Spencer Ackerman was ahead of the pack in his coverage of the Obama administration’s plans for responding to the election in Iran. Ackerman explained how the White House planned to take a hands-off approach, which many experts believe is the best way to support Iranian dissidents. If Obama had endorsed their cause, many feared it would serve to de-legitimize it. Ackerman went on to pursue this idea further in a second piece that explored U.S. democracy policy abroad is shifting under Obama. Failed attempts in the past to fund uprisings appear to be off the table, and many experts think it will achieve better outcomes.

On Thursday, Ackerman conducted an exclusive interview with Iran’s foremost pro-democracy dissident journalist, Akbar Ganji, who spent five years in prison for exposing human rights abuses by the Iranian regime. This was Ganji’s first interview with English-language media since the Iranian election. Ganji gave a strong defense of the non-interventionist strategy of the Obama administration, but cautioned Obama that he “cannot stay silent” on human rights issues. Ackerman’s interview drew much attention after being linked in The Huffington Post’s comprehensive liveblog of the developing situation in Iran, and in a post by Andrew Sullivan.

The Project on Middle East Democracy also highlighted the interview on its blog.

Congress reporter Mike Lillis wrote about how a billion-dollar program, cloaked as an effort to clean up the environment, is really another handout to Detroit. The plan allows drivers to turn in one SUV for an SUV that gets just one or two more miles to the gallon for $4,500 cash credit. The bill that passed beat out a similar bill environmentalists say might actually have worked to get more fuel-efficient cars on the road.

Ernest Luning reported that the state’s Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) last week moved toward more transparent procedures at its meeting. The panel has been under intense scrutiny – and even faces an ongoing lawsuit by The Colorado Independent – for violating the state’s Open Meetings Act. Luning’s previous reporting revealed that the IEC met in secret about 85 percent of the time.Among the new procedures the IEC took for the first time: posting public notices that listed specific lawsuits filed against the commission, which commissioners plan to discuss with their attorneys behind closed doors; recording votes by commissioners to go into closed session, as required by state law; and releasing records the commission went to court to keep secret, including letters from lawmakers and government employees asking for guidance on ethical questions.  

John Tomasic attended a recent Republican Party gathering in Larimer County, where state Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, a 2010 gubernatorial hopeful, failed to register much name recognitionamong the GOP faithful surveyed by The Colorado Independent. Former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis, who has not officially declared his gubernatorial intentions, won the event’s GOP straw poll. Penry didn’t attend the Larimer County event but sent state Sen. Kevin Lundberg in his place to tell the local faithful to “stay the course,” which was met with weak applause.

David O. Williams laid out the political state-of-play for 2010 races on the Western Slope, where energy issues are expected to be a considerable factor. Recently, Democratic state Rep. Kathleen Curry from Gunnison faced an “ambush” from an intense crowd at a public meeting over new drilling regulations passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Curry told Williams: “This was a warning shot for me. This is an indication of what [state Democrats] will be up against on the Western Slope, at least in the areas where the boom-and-bust cycle of drilling is in the bust phase.”

Iowa state lawmakers called for hearings last week into the state’s rules governing coal-ash dumping, the most tangible impact so far of Jason Hancock’s reporting on the issue. Meanwhile, members of the Cedar Rapids-based group Plains Justice testified before the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission about the dangers of coal-ash disposal. As part of his ongoing coverage of the issue, Hancock looked at state laws used in Wisconsin to regulate disposal of the substance–laws that experts say are sound and protect the public. Unlike Iowa, Wisconsin has required groundwater monitoring at coal-ash dumps for nearly two decades.

Lynda Waddington continued to examine hard times in Iowa’s agricultural sector, especially for pork and dairy producers. During a conference call with U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican lawmaker said that while he hoped help would be on the way in some form, he was doubtful Congress would pass any production-control or supply-management legislation. Although dairy farmers recently rallied in Des Moines to ask for such help from Washington, Grassley said, “We’ve been moving away from that sort of control on any segment of the economy, not just agriculture, but any segment.”

Contributor Chris Killian took a look at the current state of the Flint mayoral race through the lens of a controversial plan to cut services to abandoned or otherwise waning sections of the shrinking city. But the plan, which has been gaining national attention – had been explored in depth by Washington Independent writer Mary Kane – isn’t being embraced by the two candidates for mayor. One candidate, Genesee County Commissioner Brenda Clack, called the shrinkage plan a “political bullet,” saying she worries about low-income residents or senior citizens who may be left without a place to live.

Eartha Jane traveled to Saginaw for the first U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) community open house since the agency announced new plans to clean up Dow Chemical’s dioxin contamination of the Saginaw River watershed. EPA officials stressed that the contamination will take years to clean up. No timetables were laid out and very few specific promises were made — except, on two issues that Melzer’s previous reporting explored in depth. The EPA agreed to test for dioxin in the municipal water supplies for Bay City, Saginaw and Midland, which hasn’t been done before; and it committed to posting updated and accurate fish consumption advisories along the affected rivers. Although Dow had come to an agreement with the state to post the fish advisories, the state was never able to enforce the deal. The EPA said it would fund the signs if Dow didn’t.

Melzer also provided an update on plans in Benton Harbor to privatize public dunes in the city’s Jean Klock Park which is being bulldozed for an elite private golf course. As legal action continues and a federal court judges the merits of a lawsuit aimed at scuttling the project, developers are rushing to finish the first phase of the golf course – slated to open in July – which involved closing the public dunes along Lake Michigan and removing all vegetation.

While readers awaited a long-anticipated ruling from the State Supreme Court in the Franken-Coleman case, Chris Steller speculated about what may come next, aggregating all of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s public statements about whether he’ll sign the election certificate handed down by the court. Conclusion: Pawlenty has been decidedly evasive on the issue, having said at different times in the past six months that he will sign it, he might sign it, he might wait, and so on.  

The staff also reacted swiftly and thoroughly to Gov. Pawlenty’s announcement that he’s unilaterally cutting $2.7 billion from the state budget. Chris Steller covered Pawlenty’s statement and detailed the nature of the cuts, showing that it’ll take the greatest toll on local public safety, health and human services, and higher education. Paul Schmelzer, meanwhile, was quick gauge response from mayors, legislative leaders and other officials, who decried the cuts as “reckless” and “unconscionable,” among other things.

Gwyneth Doland revealed that the brutal murder of a pregnant Santa Fe teenager has prompted anti-abortion activists to pursue plans for a “fetal homicide” bill in the next legislative session. Women’s rights groups told Doland that such measures in other states have been used not to protect women against violence but to serve as proxy anti-abortion laws. “The minute one of these laws passes, the first people who are prosecuted are not batterers, but pregnant women themselves,” Lynn Paltrow of National Advocates for Pregnant Women said.

Heath Haussamen broke the news that Former Region III Housing Authority Director Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos and others were indicted by grand juries in the long-standing investigation into the misuse of bond money in the state’s affordable-housing system. Gallegos is facing a number of felony charges, including fraud, embezzlement and money laundering, Haussamen reported in a quick follow-up. He also spoke to state legislators who had long criticized Attorney General Gary King for his slow action on this issue; they described indictments as a “glimmer of hope” that the law can win out over politics.