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14 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS IN BRIEF
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2003
STATE
Action against senator's license dismissed over tests
TOPEKA(AP] — Questions about whether police officers properly administered sobriety tests allowed Sen. Ed Pugh (R-Wamego) to keep his driver's license following his arrest for drunken driving, state records show.
Pugh, 53, vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was arrested after being involved in a non-injury accident in downtown Topeka.
Department of Revenue records show that a Topeka police officer was supposed to wait 20 minutes after Pugh's Jan. 3 arrest before administering a Brethalyzer test. But the officer acknowledged during the agency's hearing that he might have given the test a minute and 50 seconds early, according to notes compiled at the hearing by the person presiding.
"Based on the hearing officer's determination that the proper testing procedures were not followed, the administrative action on Senator Pugh's license was dismissed," the department's statement said.
Pugh wrote a letter of apology to the arresting officers and promised to seek alcohol treatment as part of an agreement under which the criminal drunken driving charge against him was dismissed.
May jobless rate increases beyond market expectations
TOPEKA (AP) — A return of warm weather fueled a bright state economic report for May and optimism that the worst problems may be over.
May's jobless rate declined to 4.4 percent from a revised 4.8 percent in April. That compares with 6.1 percent unemployment nationally and 4.8 percent for Kansas in May 2002.
"That's a little bit larger than we expected it to drop," said Bill Layes, chief of labor market information for the Department of Human Resources. "It's promising."
Employment gained about 4,000 jobs in May, with construction, government and leisure or hospitality sectors leading the way.
In addition, the number of unemployed Kansans dropped by 5,900 to 64,000. First-time jobless claims fell, as well, to 12,817.
Kansas woman diagnosed, treated in monkeypox case
TOPEKA (AP) — The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a northeast Kansas woman contracted the state's first case of monkeypox, officials said Monday.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced the findings from the center, which is based in Atlanta. KDHE had sent preliminary results from its tests to the center for further examination.
The woman, who has not been identified by name or hometown, was bitten by a prairie dog around June 1 while visiting a northwest Missouri man. She was released Thursday from Saint John Hospital in Leavenworth.
Three family members were given the smallpox vaccine as a precaution, said Sharon Watson, KDHE spokeswoman.
Monkeypox, a west African disease not previously seen in the Western Hemisphere, is related to smallpox but is not as lethal. It causes rashes, chills and fever.
The CDC has confirmed nine monkeypox cases in Wisconsin, six in Indiana, five in Illinois and one each in Kansas and Missouri.
Health officials expect increase in West Nile cases in Kansas
HUTCHINSON (AP) State health officials expect an increase in cases of West Nile virus in Kansas this year.
"We are expecting this year to be worse than last year because it's the second year for West Nile in Kansas and other states have seen an increase in the second year," said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health.
So far this year, no cases have been reported in Kansas.
The anticipated increase stems from birds that are expected to migrate from eastern states with higher concentrations of the virus. Watson said some
mosquitoes carrying the virus last summer also were probably able to survive the winter and pass it on to their offspring.
Kansas had 22 confirmed human cases of the virus in 2002. West Nile also was found in animals, birds or mosquitoes in 103 of the state's 105 counties. Those cases peaked in August and September and the same is expected this year.
Kline to seek anti-porn filters at schools,public libraries
TOPEKA (AP) — Calling the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding antipornography filters in libraries a "breath of fresh air," Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline said Monday he will seek legislation next year.
Kline said he also would like to require schools, as well as libraries, to put filters on computers that children may use.
"The Court agrees that our constitution permits protections to allow our children to learn in an environment free from the onslaught of pornographic and obscene materials," Kline said in a statement.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress can force public libraries to use anti-pornography filters if they want to receive federal funds.
State Librarian Duane Johnson questioned the need for a state law, saying the federal one is comprehensive.
The majority of Kansas' public libraries already have such filters, which Johnson opposes. The American Library Association has opposed the use of filters.
NATION
Program looks to Bush for help in funding of volunteer work
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nonprofit groups struggling with AmeriCorps funding cutbacks sought help Friday from the White House to save the jobs of thousands of young volunteers.
The House passed legislation last Thursday that aimed to fix accounting problems at the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps. The Senate approved the measure last Wednesday.
The bill now goes to President Bush, who commended lawmakers for helping to put "AmeriCorps on a sound financial footing."
AmeriCorps' education trust has been the source of much of the agency's troubles. The agency had not been putting into the trust enough money to cover the $4,725 education grant it awards each volunteer. The agency withheld some money based on enrollment and interest income estimates.
The corporation also approved more slots for volunteers last year than its money would cover. That contributed to the cuts announced this week in state competitive grants, which were slashed by about 80 percent.
Canada's new marijuana law could bring border problems
WASHINGTON (AP)]-U.S. officials, already concerned about illegal drugs coming across the Canadian border, are warning that a Canadian plan to decriminalize marijuana use could lead to more inspections and long border delays.
"We don't want the northern border to be a trafficking route for drugs," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security for the Department of Homeland Security.
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's administration introduced legislation in late May that would essentially make the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana equivalent to a traffic ticket. The bill would boost penalties for growing and trafficking marijuana.
The Canadian proposal "is amazing to us," said Dave McEachran, prosecuting attorney in Whatcom County, along the Washington state border. McEachran's office prosecutes hundreds of federal drug cases a year resulting from arrests at the Blaine, Wash., border—the busiest crossing west of Detroit.
In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2002, some 20,213 pounds of marijuana was seized along the northern border, compared with more than 1.2 million pounds along the southwest border, Customs figures show.
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