23
Mar
2004
· State legislators led by the Republican majority have unveiled a $4.4-billion budget for Iowa that does not include a tax increase. The total budget represents a spending increase of $110 million over last year. Republicans claim the plan includes a $109-million increase for primary and secondary education; $30 million for a kindergarten-through-third-grade reading initiative; a $4-million increase for Iowa's community colleges; a $5-million increase each for the departments of public safety and corrections; $160 million in property-tax credits for local governments; and funding for Medicaid at a level that does not cut services for enrollees or reimbursement levels for providers. To pay for the increased spending, lawmakers plan to transfer $160 million from the state's cash reserves. Governor Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, contends the budget under-funds education and doesn't take into account expected increases in the cost of Medicaid. He also faulted GOP legislators for using the state's cash reserves to balance the budget and for failing to increase economic-development spending. The legislature is expected to finish the legislative session in early April, and the state budget must be approved before the legislature can adjourn.
· In primary elections last week in Illinois, incumbent state representatives Mike Boland and Pat Verschoore (both Democrats) survived primary challenges. Boland easily defeated Dennis Ahern, while Verschoore won a slightly tighter contest with Clarence M. Darrow. In the race for state's attorney, Jeff Terronez took home nearly half the vote in the Democratic primary, even with four opponents. Boland will face Steven M. Haring in the November general election, while Verschoore and Terronez are at this point unopposed.
· In statewide races, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Jack Ryan won the nominations of their parties for the seat of retiring Senator Peter Fitzgerald, a Republican. Seven Democrats and eight Republicans vied for the nominations.
· The Hearst News Service reported on March 14 that steps toward a "targeted draft" are being taken by the government right now: "The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is adamant that he will not ask Congress to authorize a draft, and officials at the Selective Service System, the independent federal agency that would organize any conscription, stress that the possibility of a so-called 'special-skills draft' is remote. Nonetheless, the agency has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree to such a request." You can see the whole article at (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2446912). On March 13, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported about the Selective Service Agency: "The agency already has a special system to register and draft health-care personnel ages 20 to 44 in more than 60 specialties if necessary in a crisis." That article can be seen at (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/164693_draft13.html).
· As reported by the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet), a recently released study by the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) found that the negative health effects of legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, far exceeded those from illegal drugs. The report, the first of its kind by the WHO, explored advances in the treatment of drug dependence and cites an explosion of advances in neuroscience to conclude that substance dependence is as much a disorder of the brain as any other neurological or psychiatric disorder. "The main global health burden is due to licit rather than illicit substances," said the report. While the WHO put the number of illegal-drug users worldwide at about 200 million, or 3.4 percent of the global population, it found that illegal-drug use accounted for only 0.8 percent of global ill health in 2000. Alcohol, on the other hand, accounted for 4.1 percent and tobacco for 4.0 percent. The report singled out men living in wealthy countries as particularly vulnerable to tobacco- and alcohol-related health problems. The report, "The Neuroscience of Psychoactive Substance Use & Dependence," is only available by purchase. Visit (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2004/pr18/en/) to read the press release and executive summary online.
· Iowa parents now have a new tool to track information about Iowa schools. The state has unveiled a new Web site (http://www.iowaschoolprofiles.com) that provides direct access to information on student assessment and achievement in each of Iowa's school districts. The Iowa Department of Education has made the information available to the public in the past, but only in a paper format. The Web site is reasonably easy to navigate and does provide data all the way down to building-level reports.
· The City of Bettendorf is one of 120 communities in Iowa to attain Tree City USA status. This is the eighth year Bettendorf has been recognized. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service. To become a Tree City USA, a community must meet four standards: a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program, and an Arbor Day observance.
· In primary elections last week in Illinois, incumbent state representatives Mike Boland and Pat Verschoore (both Democrats) survived primary challenges. Boland easily defeated Dennis Ahern, while Verschoore won a slightly tighter contest with Clarence M. Darrow. In the race for state's attorney, Jeff Terronez took home nearly half the vote in the Democratic primary, even with four opponents. Boland will face Steven M. Haring in the November general election, while Verschoore and Terronez are at this point unopposed.
· In statewide races, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Jack Ryan won the nominations of their parties for the seat of retiring Senator Peter Fitzgerald, a Republican. Seven Democrats and eight Republicans vied for the nominations.
· The Hearst News Service reported on March 14 that steps toward a "targeted draft" are being taken by the government right now: "The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is adamant that he will not ask Congress to authorize a draft, and officials at the Selective Service System, the independent federal agency that would organize any conscription, stress that the possibility of a so-called 'special-skills draft' is remote. Nonetheless, the agency has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree to such a request." You can see the whole article at (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2446912). On March 13, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported about the Selective Service Agency: "The agency already has a special system to register and draft health-care personnel ages 20 to 44 in more than 60 specialties if necessary in a crisis." That article can be seen at (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/164693_draft13.html).
· As reported by the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet), a recently released study by the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) found that the negative health effects of legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, far exceeded those from illegal drugs. The report, the first of its kind by the WHO, explored advances in the treatment of drug dependence and cites an explosion of advances in neuroscience to conclude that substance dependence is as much a disorder of the brain as any other neurological or psychiatric disorder. "The main global health burden is due to licit rather than illicit substances," said the report. While the WHO put the number of illegal-drug users worldwide at about 200 million, or 3.4 percent of the global population, it found that illegal-drug use accounted for only 0.8 percent of global ill health in 2000. Alcohol, on the other hand, accounted for 4.1 percent and tobacco for 4.0 percent. The report singled out men living in wealthy countries as particularly vulnerable to tobacco- and alcohol-related health problems. The report, "The Neuroscience of Psychoactive Substance Use & Dependence," is only available by purchase. Visit (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2004/pr18/en/) to read the press release and executive summary online.
· Iowa parents now have a new tool to track information about Iowa schools. The state has unveiled a new Web site (http://www.iowaschoolprofiles.com) that provides direct access to information on student assessment and achievement in each of Iowa's school districts. The Iowa Department of Education has made the information available to the public in the past, but only in a paper format. The Web site is reasonably easy to navigate and does provide data all the way down to building-level reports.
· The City of Bettendorf is one of 120 communities in Iowa to attain Tree City USA status. This is the eighth year Bettendorf has been recognized. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service. To become a Tree City USA, a community must meet four standards: a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program, and an Arbor Day observance.
