Highlights from the past two weeks include:
- In Minnesota, Christian rock bank You Can Run But You Cannot Hide allegedly preaches the gospel of Jesus in public high school auditoriums paid for with federal and state tax dollars, raising serious questions of violating laws prohibiting state sponsorship of religion. Minnesota reporter Andy Birkey uncovered how the organization, under the pretense of providing a positive anti-drug, anti bullying message for teens at risk, is in fact a missionary organization. Because of Andy’s reporting the Madison, Wis.–based Freedom From Religion Foundation published an Action Alert on its site, warning: “Parents and other concerned members of the public across the country should be on the look-out for this group invading a community near you.” The next day the group emailed supporters, citing MnIndy’s reporting and asking parents to alert them if a YCRBYCH event is planned in their children’s schools.
- In Colorado, reporter David O. Williams revealed that much of the proposed rate hikes for Xcel Energy were intended to cover the energy company’s lavish expenses, like corporate retreats and $15,000 dinners for its top tier staff. As a result, the state utility commission condemned the action and demanded that the company no longer ask consumers to cover its executives’ lush lifestyles. The next, and arguably more major potential impact, is getting the Public Utilities Company claim that all future requests for rate hikes be removed to become a formal ruling and getting the state to forbid energy companies from ever again asking for rate hikes to cover its perks.
- In Michigan, Todd A. Heywood reported that a lack of state policy on the use of an HIV preventive measure known as nPEP is potentially putting Michigan residents at a greater risk of infection. Profiling the case of a University of Michigan student who had been potentially exposed to HIV, Heywood revealed a university health service nurse practitioner refused to administer nPEP — a drug cocktail normally given to medical service professionals who face increased risk of accidental transmission — because she did not know what it was. State health officials quickly reacted to Heywood’s story and promised that they would address the situation “early next year” with new advice for medical providers on how and when to prescribe nPEP.
More details on our breaking news stories below.
Best,
David
Prior to President Obama’s major Afghanistan speech on Dec. 1, Spencer Ackerman gained access to a number of senior administration officials with intimate knowledge of the president’s intentions and broader strategy. As a result, shortly after the speech concluded, Ackerman published the most comprehensive account of the speech and its implications, including the framing of an “extended surge,” the divergent geographical focus of U.S. and NATO forces, and an increased emphasis on providing security for Afghan civilians.
On Sunday, Nov. 29, the news broke that Maurice Clemmons, the suspected killer of four police officers in Seattle, had been granted clemency by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas in 2000. David Weigel mined his vast network of influential conservative contacts and found a vicious backlash against Huckabee by conservative leaders who hope to sink his presidential ambitions. Weigel’s piece on Nov. 30 helped define the ensuing debate about Huckabee’s place within the Republican party and his chances in a 2012 GOP primary. “I think the news from Seattle is a huge blow to his presidential chances,” David Keating, executive director of the Club for Growth, told Weigel. “It would be his Willie Horton, except much worse. Willie Horton was a general election issue. We’re talking about a GOP primary where voters will be sensitive to law and order issues.”
David Weigel also wrote an eye-opening piece about the fortunes of a handful of former Bush administration officials and campaign veterans who have gone on to high-profile jobs or are now running for office themselves. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, for these former officials, their connections to the failures of the deeply unpopular Bush administration have not hurt their careers as much as one would think. Weigel’s piece should give Democratic strategists some food for thought heading into the 2010 elections.
As Attorney General Eric Holder prepares to send a handful of terror suspects connected the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to New York City for trial, TWI legal reporter Daphne Eviatar raised a couple of important questions: Is the death penalty really a punishment for criminals who desire martyrdom? And furthermore, could such martyrdom help al-Qaeda recruit more terrorists and lead to further violence? Eviatar took a look at the cases in the context of the classic criminal justice principles for punishment of deterrence and retribution and found that the questions, uncomfortable though they may be for the Obama administration, are legitimate and remain unaddressed.
In Denver hearings surrounding proposed rate hikes for Xcel Energy, Dave O. Williams revealed that much of the hikes were intended to cover the energy company’s lavish expenses, like corporate retreats and $15,000 dinners for its top tier staff. As a result, the state utility commission condemned the action and demanded that the company no longer ask consumers to cover its executives’ lush lifestyles. Xcel had already withdrawn $44 million in proposed rate hikes, after Williams exposed that the money was to be used to cover extravagances. Officials granted the remaining $128 million hike at a recent meeting of the Public Utility Commission, but said they want all such expenses to be removed from any future requests for rate hikes. Another major potential impact is getting the PUC to make a formal ruling to get the state to forbid energy companies from ever again asking for rate hikes to cover its perks.
Katie Redding took top traffic with her undercover survey of Colorado health insurers in search of maternity coverage on the open market. Posing as a 34-year-old woman from the high country whose COBRA coverage was running out, she found no plan that would cover standard maternity care for a woman in rural Colorado. Three companies offered “maternity riders” on top of available health insurance plans, but they were not available to any woman with a previous history of pregnancy complications, such as a miscarriage or a non-elective cesarean section. The riders are also not available to any woman who is already pregnant or to any adult member of a pregnant woman’s family, apparently to guard against fraud. Such policies are compliant with state underwriting guidelines, Redding reported. Her story was picked up by Hufffington Post and Feministing, among many other blogs.
David O. Williams has also been carefully watching campaign rhetoric from Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis, who said that if elected, one of his first moves would be to yank the new oil and gas drilling regulations that were painstakingly drafted by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Over the past two years stakeholders, including industry representatives created rules that give higher priority to wildlife habitat, air and water quality and public health when considering permits. Williams has been closely tracking the battle over drilling regulations locally on the Western Slope. In the case of Battlement Mesa in Garfield County, the state’s oil and gas commission chief said it’s too early to commit to a baseline health study in the community, where there are plans to drill up to 200 natural gas wells near homes and on its municipal golf course.
Lynda Waddington reported on and analyzed a letter to U.S Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano from Sen. Charles Grassley in response to comments Napolitano made regarding the positive economic impacts of a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. “With all due respect,” the letter reads, “legalizing those who have no legal right to be in the United States will not be a ‘boon’ to American workers.” But Waddington noted that for Iowans who watched the economic decimation of Postville following the massive May 2008 immigration raid at a meatpacking plant, such assertions of displaced and disenfranchised American workers may fall flat.
New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for the disposal of toxic coal ash that are set to be released this month, Jason Hancock reported, and a potential loophole in the new rules has some worried they will leave Iowans unprotected by leaving unregulated the sites many consider the most dangerous in the Hawkeye State. Iowa environmentalists are most concerned with disposal of dry coal ash in unlined, unmonitored former quarries and mines that received a waiver from the state allowing them to use the ash as fill. The sites have become targeted for reform following Hancock’s reporting earlier this year.
Two national Muslim leaders took Des Moines right-wing talk radio show host Steve Deace to task for comments he made on air criticizing Islam in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings, saying the military’s desire for greater diversity within its ranks is a “recipe for disaster.” As Jason Hancock reported, Sheila Musaji, founder and editor of The American Muslim magazine, said despite the fact that every major Muslim and Arab organization condemned the shootings and offered their condolences to the families of the Fort Hood shooting victims, many are still trying to use the tragedy to inspire hatred of Muslims. Abed Ayoub, legal adviser to the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said Deace “believes his race and beliefs are superior to others and wants to attack a segment of the population because of their religious beliefs.”
Jason Hancock also reported that a Republican National Committee member from Iowa is among 10 co-sponsors of an ideological “purity test” resolution that would impose a conservative litmus test on GOP candidates seeking a party endorsement or funds. Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Christian Alliance, and his conservative RNC allies want guidelines in place that would deny an endorsement or campaign funds for candidates who stray from three or more principles spelled out in the resolution, which encourages “Republican solidarity in opposition to [President] Obama’s socialist agenda.”
Todd A. Heywood reported that a lack of state policy on the use of an HIV preventive measure known as nPEP is potentially putting Michigan residents at a greater risk of infection. Todd A. Heywood profiled the case of a University of Michigan student who had been potentially exposed to HIV, but a university health service nurse practitioner refused to administer nPEP — a drug cocktail normally given to medical service professionals who face increased risk of accidental transmission — because she did not know what it was. What’s more, the student said, the nurse was more concerned about judging his behavior than in treating his medical situation. “She said, ‘Well, you had your chance to protect to yourself and you didn’t,” he said. Despite federal guidelines on nPEP, Michigan lacks any policies for health institutions on administering the drugs. State health officials quickly reacted to Heywood’s story and promised that they would address the situation “early next year” with new advice for medical providers on how and when to prescribe nPEP.
The new, scaled-back Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment is scheduled to debut on Jan. 17 with organizational changes that are being made too fast and without public input, Eartha Jane Melzer reported. So far, the governor’s office is refusing to address questions about the reorganization. Melzer reported that the stakes are high, with environmental activists worried the reorganization will weaken ecological and health safeguards.
In the latest chapter in the battle over the municipal Freedom of Information Act guidelines in the city of Lansing, Mich.,Todd A. Heywood reported how a city attorney who came under fire for publicly disclosing the HIV-positive status of an individual involved in an undercover sex sting earlier this year wants to have new transparency guidelines created behind closed doors. Since this past summer’s controversy, the attorney has missed multiple deadlines for developing new rules as demanded by some city council members.
Minehaha Forman reported on complaints about the safety and effectiveness of Detroit’s new para-transit services, which had to be hastily introduced when the contracted transportation service provider stopped work due to the cash-strapped city’s failure to pay. Part of the new para-transit services are provided by a local cab company, which has seen many complaints of unacceptable service failures. One blind passenger told Forman: “To me, it’s like they just threw us out to the dogs.”
Andy Birkey’s dogged reporting on You Can Run But You Cannot Hide (YCRBYCH), a Minnesota-based evangelical Christian punk band/ministry that has performed at public school assemblies around the country, has prompted a national advocacy group to issue an action campaign around the group’s activities, particularly its apparent and repeated violations of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. Three days after Birkey’s coverage of the ministry’s Nov. 12 fundraiser, the Freedom From Religion Foundation published an Action Alert on its site, warning: “Parents and other concerned members of the public across the country should be on the look-out for this group invading a community near you.” The next day the group emailed supporters, citing MnIndy’s reporting and asking parents to alert them if a YCRBYCH event is planned in their children’s schools.
Birkey also drove traffic with his update on foreclosure rates in Minnesota, noting that the crisis continues to be most severe in Rep. Michele Bachmann’s district with 1,097 foreclosures in July, August and September of 2009. As Birkey reported in April, the second-term Republican voted against every major piece of foreclosure-relief legislation brought before the House. The piece was picked up by Politico and Huffington Post and became a social networking virus, driving more than 17,000 readers to the site.
As analysis of statistics on Minnesotans who lack health insurance by congressional district showed distressing news about the constituents of U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson. Andy Birkey reported that as Blue Dog Democrat who voted against the U.S. House’s health care reform legislation, Peterson’s district has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in Minnesota. Among children in the expansive and rural 7th Congressional District, 7.9 percent lacked health insurance compared to 6.3 percent statewide. In fact, more children are on government subsidized health insurance (25.6 percent) in Peterson’s district than every other district except one.
Heath Haussamen reported that the New Mexico State Investment Council says it can’t locate a subpoena and questionnaire that were missing from a group of public records released last month in regards to ongoing federal probes into a nationwide investment scandal. In response to NMI’s records requests, the SIC released four documents to the media in November. Missing were the subpoena and questionnaire referred to in a information disclosure letter. A SIC spokesman told Haussamen he believes the documents are public records, but said the agency can’t locate them.
The New Mexico Independent and the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government hosted a seminar on the state’s Inspection of Public Records Law, a gathering webcast and liveblogged by the NMI staff. The seminar was presented by Sarah Welsh, executive director of FOG, and Kip Purcell, an attorney and FOG board president. The ins and outs of government transparency were discussed during the presentation, including recent New Mexico case law that has ruled government business discussed by officials on private email accounts is still subject to state transparency laws.
A proponent of increasing the separation of church and state in the U.S. military faced a number of complaints and threatening phone calls in advance of his planned talk at the University of Mexico. NMI’s Gwyneth Doland reports that Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, received one phone call saying: “If you come to UNM tomorrow the wolves will be waiting for you,” referring to, perhaps, the school’s mascot, a wolf. Another caller claimed that Campus Crusade for Christ would be ready to picket and protest Weinstein’s talk, something the UNM chapter denied.
In a preview of potential cost-cutting measures to come, Trip Jennings reports that the state of New Mexico has stopped accepting individuals into a program that helps uninsured residents pay for health coverage. The State Coverage Insurance program helps nearly 50,000 low-income individuals and small employers statewide afford health insurance by subsidizing part of the cost of monthly premiums.
Department of Good News
Iowa schools awarded $60 million from Microsoft settlement
More than $60 million will be given to Iowa schools for the purchase of new technology, thanks to a 2007 settlement in an anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. In April 2007, a Polk County judge approved a settlement where the software giant agreed to pay Iowa consumers $179.95 million. Attorneys had brought a lawsuit alleging that Microsoft overcharged Iowa consumers and businesses for certain products.
In Michigan’s Kent County, the public health department has created a new rewards program aimed at increasing the rate at which people are tested for HIV.