Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Here is the Scripps-McClatchy Western Service NEWS budget for WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2007. If you have questions or comments, SMWS editors can be reached at (202)- 408-1484.
(All stories Category A, unless noted otherwise.)
CALIFORNIA POLITICAL NEWS
STARK-ATHEIST (Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle) _ Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., might have crossed what some are calling "one of the last frontiers" in politics when he delighted atheists this week by acknowledging that he does not believe in a supreme being. (Also moves Scripps wire) 500.
CALIF-SIMON (Hecht, Sacramento Bee) _ SACRAMENTO, Calif.: Bill Simon, an unsuccessful 2002 California gubernatorial candidate, former federal prosecutor under Giuliani and bedrock social conservative, is soothing the concerns of many social conservatives over the record of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. 650
CALIFORNIA REGIONAL NEWS
CALIF-SCHOOLS (Rosenhall, Sacramento Bee) _ SACRAMENTO, Calif.: About 1,000 pages of fuel are being added to the fire that is the chronic debate over how to fix California's schools as Stanford researchers begin releasing findings that say the state's education system is fundamentally broken and that additional funding alone won't assure that students learn to read, write and calculate at grade-level. 250.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL NEWS
MALLSHOOTER (Rosetta & Rizzo, Salt Lake Tribune) _ AMARILLO, Texas: The night before he went on a shooting spree at a mall in Salt Lake City, Bosnian refugee Sulejman Talovic told his girlfriend in Texas it would be "the happiest day of his life." (Also moves Scripps wire) 650.
CASINOS-GREEN (Benston, Las Vegas Sun) _ LAS VEGAS: Vegas casinos are willing to go green, but the smoke got in their eyes. (Also moves Scripps wire) 550.
COMMENTARY (Category k)
SCHRAG (Schrag, Sacramento Bee _ Column) _ It's obvious that the war on drugs, our longest war, is another war we're not winning. It's gone on for 75 years and, like the war on terror, it's been pursued with fatally counterproductive strategies. If Washington doesn't alter course, it could last forever. There's now a chance, albeit slim, that things could change. 850.
HERDT (Herdt, SMWS _ Column) _ Sometime before Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign a bill creating a Feb. 5 presidential primary next year. He will announce that the new primary date will give all California voters a meaningful say in who will be the candidates for president in 2008 _ but he will be only 81.17 percent right. 850.
EDITORIALS (Category k)
EDRADIO (Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle) _ For the past decade or so, listening to commercial radio has been an experience of diminishing returns. After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed for mass consolidation in the radio industry, it seemed to bring about mass consolidation of music playlists, too. Once, a local radio station reflected the quirky character of its place with local bands. So the news that four of the nation's largest broadcast radio companies are being fined $12.5 million for "pay-for-play" practices didn't come as much of a surprise. But it may lead to change. 550.
EDSEXCASE (Editorial, Tacoma News Tribune) _ Kudos to Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff for refusing to rubber stamp a bad plea bargain, demonstrating a good sense of justice by rejecting prosecutors' sentencing recommendation for a former White River School teacher accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student and sending her to jail. 400.
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