December 30, 2002

Resolve to Learn More About Your Rights in 2003 by Joyce Morrison, The Illinois Leader

Bypass is shelved: Planning committee set to look at State Route 3 again - Belfair Herald

AZ: As home prices go up - Rising home prices are good for sellers, but they raise important policy questions-Arizona Star

Interior Dept. to cut California off from Colorado River water rights -The Olympian

Lockout Has Anglers Reeling - Fishing restrictions to expand around Channel Islands, CA - Editorial from Boat U.S.

Supreme Court Requests $4 Million for Critical Improvements to State's Judicial Information System

Founding fathers warned about what would happen to freedom if a constitutional republic becomes a 'democracy' - Immediate danger is socialism: government grows while freedoms diminish - TRACKSIDE © by John D’Aloia Jr.

America is being invaded - by Joseph Farah, WND

Fighting Malaria With DDT - The New York Times

December 27, 2002

Nisqually refuge proposal: Double size, remove dikes - Expansion, restoration would require changes in recreational use -The Olympian

Property Rights Notice - DOE to propose new rule revising Water Quality Standards

Commission removes info about cracks in dam from Web site -The Olympian

Lawmakers set meeting to address grizzly & cougar populations, other "wildlife management" issues - Omak Chronicle

Fish and Wildlife budget cut -News Tribune

Anglers aim to keep lake ice open - Lake impacted by elimination of groundwater seepage due to irrigation pipe enclosure - Methow Valley News

Kroger Lets Shoppers Pay Via Fingerprint - Yahoo News

Urban combat training center will be Army's largest - Leschi Town at Fort Lewis will have room for 600 troops -The Olympian

Smallpox worries are overblown, experts say -The Olympian

December 22, 2002

Ruling limits DEQ’s authority to regulate ag - Capital Press

SWAMPED BY WETLANDS- $118,000 fee halts housing project Army Corps grinches zap dreams of home-ownership by Christmas by Sarah Foster, WorldNetDaily.com

Oregon's governor-elect Kulongoski to focus on Klamath - Capital Press

Editorial: Knowledge is Power: The people of Klamath Basin are not alone in their fight with the ESA by Barbara Hall

Council to help BPA cut budget for salmon - The Columbian

Budget zealots buck no-new-tax mindset - AP

Despite voters' resounding 'no' at the polls, Locke still hopes to increase gas tax -King 5 News

Hearing examiner's ruling favors opponents of Lake Sammamish trail -Seattle Times

Shoreline battle over regs settled - A compromise removes the emphasis on the Endangered Species Act - Bremerton Sun

Kitsap County courthouse sees a changing of the guard -Bremerton Sun

Air Travelers Urged to Unlock Bags - Opening Liability Issue Critics wonder who'll pay for losses, damage once inspectors can freely search luggage - LA Times

December 21, 2002

Forest road ban could cost $164M a year in lost jobs, energy development, says administration - The Daily News, Aberdeen, WA

Gov. Gary Locke Announces Important Agreement on Shoreline Guidelines - Press release from the Governor's office

Crime Up Again - Broken windows and a broken economy may combine to increase offense rates - The Columbian, editorial

'Experts' worry about flooding, not enough water for salmon due to 'possible global warming' - Spokesman-Review

EPA Seeks Faith-Based Grants For Green Causes - CNS News

PushBack.com - Dedicated to reducing the degree to which the government unfairly and unwisely extends its powers, by ensuring that it treats citizens fairly under the Constitution

Sen. Murray Praises bin Laden's Good Deeds - Newsmax

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray asks students to ponder about bin Laden's popularity -The Columbian

Bush Administration to Propose System for Monitoring Internet - NY Times

December 20, 2002

'Tax, Expand, Forever' - Three political laws which fly in the face of Constitutional limits-TRACKSIDE © by John D’Aloia Jr.

Bellevue program helps homeless Eastside teens - King 5 News

Mayors Say Requests for Food and Shelter Are Up - NY Times

E-card virus warning for Christmas - beware of viruses hiding in some E-card sites -CNN

WA: Locke Budget Pulls Plug on Water Funds-Yakima-Herald

December 19, 2002

Story of a Biosphere: The Champlain Adirondack Biosphere Reserve (CABR) By Dale French, Vice-president, Private Property Rights, Alliance For America

Nevada: Judge rules Hage doesn't need grazing permit

Behind the Story: Restoring American's Property Rights: Hage v. U.S.

Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument should remain a thriving part of America to be enjoyed by Americans - not put 'off limits' - Official public comment to agencies on 'management' plan by Julie Kay Smithson

First Annual Taxpayer Action Day to be held in Olympia

Arizona: An SDCP Cost Analysis or Horse Feathers - Conservation Plan won't stand up under federal scrutiny without an independent economic impact study, decides board of supervisors - by Glynn A. Burkhardt, president , Pima County Coalition For Multiple Use

Yakima, WA: Studies, studies and more studies: Time to Get Back on Course Set in '79 for Water Storage - Yakima-Herald

U.S. public, 'elites' differ on immigration-WA Times

December 18, 2002

WA State Department of Ecology Proposes Huge Cut - Yakima Herald-Republic

EPA announces farm-waste rules - Whitman praises regulations; critics call them load of manure -The Spokesman-Review

EFF launches Waste Watchers website - Site chronicles waste, offers “hot diet tips” for government

Activists push for orcas to make endangered list - News Tribune

Lawsuit seeks to ensure enforcement of Initiative 776 -Seattle Times

EPA About Face: Finally proposes limits on federal sludge dumping in
Potomac - Press release from Nat'l Wilderness Institute

Bush Ordering Limited Missile Shield - NY Times

December 17, 2002

Eastern Washington: Few Takers for Water-Rights Money - Yakima Herald-Republic

Water Conservation or New Storage? Study Says Both - Yakima Herald-Republic

Idaho to allow more water withdrawals -The Olympian

Coalition wants greener Corps of Engineers - The Columbian

State budget crisis will require sacrifice - General tax increases probably out; 'sin taxes' could rise -The Olympian

Working the system: Citizens can exert influence at every step - Seattle P-I

Eyman suing to enforce I-776 - He calls some governments' response to initiative a 'mockery of justice' - Seattle P-I

December 16, 2002

What is wilderness and why do we need it? -by Candace Oathout for Eco-Logic

No more land for government! by Henry Lamb, Eco-Logic

A look at the future... - A Sustainable World by Henry Lamb, Eco-Logic

U.S. seniors flooding Canada with orders for low-cost drugs - South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Comparisons of then and now: a focus on how we are taxed and how that money is spent - commentary by Jackie Juntti

WA State: Gates panel's value-added tax a dud, users say -News Tribune

December 15, 2002

The American Dream is Alive and Well in California - Survey shows most people content with the way things are, not interested in "smart growth" By Leonard Gilroy for Eco-Logic

How the feds hand out your dollars by Henry Lamb, Eco-Logic

THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS: Our second great national holiday -- or at least it should be - Why is the government so resistant to a formal celebration of our founding freedoms? by Vin Suprynowicz, LVRJ

Do you really want the government to rule your life? If you are demanding your *special interest* doesn't get cut, then you're not serious about reducing the state budget by Jacki Juntti for Common Sense Kitsap

December 14, 2002

Agency asks to cut salmon recovery spending -The Olympian

Study: Timber aid money best spent developing community pride, vision, says $600,000 study - reports the $1.2 billion spent "didn't achieve the promises made, was misused by 'carpetbaggers' who showed up in communities to take advantage of the money - The Olympian

Council rejects EPA request - Deny EPA permission to drill on right-of-way - Saint-Marie Gazette

County judge stops farmland conversion - Capital Press

Klickitat Trail backers gain ground with state - The Columbian

Irrigators set back in Little Creek water rights case - Administrative law judge favors giving water for instream flows over historical irrigation usage - Capital Press

Wetlands: Supreme Court hears arguments on CWA jurisdiction - Greenwire

Property Rights and Parents' Rights at Risk: Bill to expand Endangered Species Act nearly gets passed but for two legislative rules and a few courageous senators; meanwhile, parents' role to teach children gets government interference - TRACKSIDE © by John D’Aloia Jr.

Lopez expresses support for an Urban Growth Area - Islands Sounder

Groups petition to add 12 new species to endangered list -King 5 News

December 13, 2002

Defenders Stops Environmental Groups' Smart Growth Proposal

Editorial: County must end dispute over GMA - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

State, local cities among nation's worst in job growth - Puget Sound Business Journal

The taxes you pay: Businesses feel weight of taxes at every stage-The Seattle Times

Judge puts lower Snake dredging on hold - Tri-City Herald

Court upholds Clinton's 'roadless' rule in national forests - Seattle Times

Appellate judges reinstate roadless rule, remand case to district court-EEP

Groups: Prairie species in peril - Protection sought for some South Sound gophers, butterflies and a lark - The Olympian

Cape Coral, Florida dock debate pulls in NBC news show-The News Press

December 12, 2002

Think Federal Money Is Free? Look at Our Road System ...-Yakima Herald-Republic Editorial

Big runs of salmon predicted -Seattle Times

Air Authority Stays Out of Tribe's Sky-Yakima Herald

San Jose Case Study Part Two: Light Rail by Randal O'Toole

Snohomish County, WA: Growth plans irk many at hearing-Everett Herald

Clean Air Authority Holds Down Fees - Yakima Herald

The taxes you pay: Lid on property taxes is tightening -Seattle Times

December 11, 2002

Cleanup of Puget Sound mapped out - But $33 million wish list by state agency might be a hard sell - Seattle P-I

The Case for Tax Cuts - Accelerating the marginal rate cuts in the Bush tax cut and extending it to corporate income increase the incentives for individuals and businesses to work and invest by Paul Beckner, CSE

Forest Management Policy Needs to Change Forest management has always been a political battlefield that threatens the health of one of America’s most important natural resources - by Wayne T. Brough, CSE

Legality of Referendum 53 argued before state court -Seattle Times

Push on to ease Columbia salmon rules -The Olympian

The Endangered Species Act Reform Project - A nationwide project of Pacific Legal Foundation

Record salmon runs in NW a positive sign - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

Subject to inspection - Belleville inspectors and armed police officers show up without search warrants to check for occupancy code violations, and ticket people who don't let them in -- a practice experts say is unconstitutional - Belleville News-Democrat

December 10, 2002

Land conservation program criticized - Wheat official likens CRP to `rural cleansing'; others defend it -Spokesman-Review

Controversy simmers over roadless areas - Idaho Statesman

Jefferson County Land-Use Designation - Gravel project clears first big hurdle - Bremerton Sun

Federal lawsuit would take Delta smelt off threatened list - Capital Press

Lawyer seeks to punish Idaho grass growers-Capital Press

Increased logging due in NW - The Columbian

Stockgrowers Association begins ad campaign over wolf damages - The Missoulian

Trees cut down by mistake put temporary stop to development, violates critical areas code - Skagit Valley Herald

Mayor urges turn off tap, protect fish- News Tribune
Residents urged to conserve water -Seattle Times

Martz discusses legislative package - Montana governor plans to cut taxes to stimulate economy - The Missoulian

Oregon business leaders call for sales tax - The Oregonian

Ranking Republicans announced for House committees - Olympia, WA

December 8, 2002

A changing of the courthouse guard - 34 years of Democratic rule comes to an end - Kitsap Business Journal

I-776 challenge has voters fuming -Seattle Times

Hospital warns of effects of B&O tax -CITY COUNCIL: Proposal to eliminate city tax exemption raises possibility of program cutbacks-Bellingham Herald

Republicans may ask for new count of all county votes- Everett Herald

Governors develop strategies for key Western issues - The Olympian

Kittitas County Commissioners consider their constituents first in refusing to join basinwide salmonwide recovery planning - Yakima Herald-Republic

Foster care can split families - Case could force the state to work harder to keep siblings together - Seattle P-I

More Water Storage Is the Surest Way to Weather Dry Year - Editorial, Yakima Herald-Republic

The Most Expensive Animal Alive? 66,666.666 acres for one owl - by Glynn A. Burkhardt, President, Pima County Coalition For Multiple Use

December 7, 2002

The Wildlands Project – National Wildlife Refuges - The Wildlands Project Comes to Hidalgo County (Part 11) -A Country Girl’s Musin’ by Judy Keeler

Caught in an agrarian time warp -- Editor's opinion, Blue Mtn. Eagle

Minnow rule may set precedent, Norton says -The Albuquerque Tribune

Smallpox vaccinations 'must be voluntary' By Sharon Otterman, GOPUSA

San Jose Case Study, Part One: The Urban-Growth Boundary - by Randal O'Toole

Eyman pares back his vote requirement for new taxes - AP

December 6, 2002

Caught Twixt Beasts & Bureaucrats - New rules from a softer society, far removed from the land - by J. Zane Walley

GMA: Development: Lopez Village looks for options - Islands Weekly

Land trust and home trust get into the housing business - Update on affordable housing efforts - Islands Weekly

More help for Skagit salmon - Seattle City Light purchases 115 acres along Sauk River - Skagit Valley Herald

Puyallup citizens organize to protest abortion clinic

Court disputes right to bear arms - 9th Circuit judges uphold assault weapons ban, rule Second Amendment only protects militias -Spokesman-Review

Republic rallies to save its sawmill - Many blame environmental group for closure, loss of 90 jobs-Spokesman-Review

We need PILT to the hilt - Local governments lose taxes when land is not available for development - Letter to the Editor, Pahrump, Nevada

December 5, 2002

I-776: enough spin to turn a voter's head - Seattle Times

I-713 -- Lawmakers need to fix bad initiative - Walla Walla Union Bulletin

Clallam: Commissioners delay passing budget, but split over raising taxes along party lines - PDN

Letter to the Editor: Global Cooling is a fact! from Julie Kay Smithson

December 4, 2002

Committee recommends Wash state income tax; lawmakers dubious-AP

A state income tax for Washington? -King 5 News

Billions to restore city creeks? Seattle initiative backers fault estimate -Seattle Times

Clinton's roadless plan hits the skids -The Olympian

Fall chinook numbers highest ever - Tri-City Herald

Lewis County to dissolve PDA - Centralia Chronicle

Clallam: Republican clashes with Democrats over Planning Commission appointments - PDN

Building industry expects to get hammered by higher L&I rate - Higher-risk industries will absorb bulk of workers' comp increase -The Olympian

Workers rally against L&I’s job-killing 40 percent tax increase - BIAW

Commentary: Reform L&I before increasing rates -EFF

What's on the minds of local students? Senator Patty Murray gets cynicism from high schoolers after visit - Bremerton Sun

Education: Those Unanswered Questions by Lyn Stuter, News with Views

Cantwell pushes economic plan's support, funding - Tri-City Herald

New Section: The War on Terror, Smallpox and Other Potential Threats to Americans

December 3, 2002

12/3/02 $50 million Klamath deal in works - Capital Press

12/3/02 Conflicting reports over fish - While one states bull trout spending set in the millions, the other tells of largest run of chum salmon since 1913 - from ESAInfo.org

12/3/02 Irrigation District: Court rules no access, no taxes - The Missoulian

12/3/02 Unconstitutional Oxymoron: Closing Sacred Public Land -by William Perry Pendley, MSLF

12/3/02 Ag key to fish efforts, area NMFS chief says - Capital Press

12/3/02 Cougars get bolder as protection increases - Methow Valley News

12/3/02 Comments sought on mining plan near East Fork of the Lewis River - The Columbian

12/3/02 Color is coming to U.S. paper money - New designs will start with $20 bill - MSNBC

12/3/02 Vaccination foes worry health officials, here and nationwide - Seattle P-I

12/3/02 WA State Legislative Schedule for month of December

12/3/02 Legislative Meeting Schedule - December 3-13, 2002

12/3/02 Mexicans Keep Coming Because U.S. Businesses Can't Stop Hiring Them - Salt Lake Tribune

12/3/02 GLOBAL CALIFORNIA - Mexicans in U.S. take 'great new step' to create a political voice -San Francisco Chronicle

12/3/02 Pennsylvania Goes After Thought Crimes - CNS News

12/3/02 Treaties Vs. The Constitution

12/3/02 Drought, fish and 'clean' water regulations all create a growing dispute over water resources-The Missoulian

12/3/02 Water resources and 'management' a global issue - Report about rural households' use of water, the UN & World Bank's involvement from University in Berlin

December 2, 2002

12/2/02 Cattlemen welcome new BLM director - Capital Press

12/2/02 The Wildlands Project – The Heritage Data Base – The Rush for Technology - A Country Girl’s Musin’: The Wildlands Project Comes to Hidalgo County (Part 10) by Judy Keeler

12/2/02 Will Locke seek a third term? First things first, he says- The Olympian

12/2/02 Whatever floats your boats - The state and a Whidbey Island boat builder reach a compromise on dredging - Everett Herald

12/2/02 Workshops will debut streamlined permit model - New emphasis by agency on 'customer service' - The Daily Herald

December 1, 2002

12/1/02 Remembering the big picture: The Columbia River faces potential dam removals, an 'industrial river that's headed into the post-industrial age' - The Missoulian

12/1/02 Turning Back the Clock on the West - how rules and regulations are returning the West to 'pre-European settlement' - by Laura McCall for Eco-Logic

Irrigators invited to get meters while funding is available - DOE issues 'revised' rules - "all irrigators" now required to meter water usage - Methow Valley News

12/1/02 The First Amendment prevents the federal government from dictating a particular religion. It does not outlaw religion from the public square, in spite of the decisions of activist judges. - Trackside by John D’Aloia Jr

12/1/02 By regulation or deed...Beware of "Conservation Easements"by Oregonians in Action, published in Eco-Logic.

12/1/02 Comments being taken on proposal to restrict new septic systems in flood plain - Methow Valley News

12/1/02 Army carves out new park - Beneath the majesty of Mount Rainier, members of the 864th Engineer Battalion from Fort Lewis carve the ground that is the site for Longmire Community Park in Yelm - The Olympian

12/1/02 Tribal land case goes to Supreme Court - U.S. might owe millions over care for tribal lands - The Olympian

Read News & Commentary from November 2002 - Click Here