KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 / NEWS
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NATURAL DISASTER
Boulder locals combat the fire
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOVELAND. Colo. Firefighters were trying to gain ground on a wildfire in the northern Colorado foothills Tuesday ahead of strong winds expected to move in, potentially spreading the flames.
The fire, which has destroyed two homes, was 20 percent contained. Terry Krasko, a spokesman for the team coordinating more than 400 firefighters, said the containment figure is expected to be higher by the end of the day.
The fire, the second major blaze to break out on the Front Range in a week, has burned nearly 1,000 acres, or about $ \frac{1}{2} $ square miles, of tinder-dry grass and trees in steep terrain just west of Loveland.
"The fire's looking very, very good," Drasko said.
Earlier, incident team manager Jim Thomas said the next 36 hours are pivotal for crews to make headway because of the wind in the forecast. Thomas said the fire wasn't moving toward populated areas but gusts of up to 20 mph were possible Tuesday and winds of up to 28 mph were expected Wednesday.
"We're going to go out and pound on it," said Thomas, who also led the fight against a wildfire near Boulder last week that destroyd at least 166 homes.
The northern
the residents to spend only about 30 minutes in their homes before they are escorted out again.
Officials said earlier they expected some people would stay, even if the return was supposed to be temporary. It wasn't clear what deputies would do if anyone resisted leaving.
Authorities don't know exactly how many homes and residents are in the evacuation area. The Red Cross said 76 evacuees have registered with the agency.
Sheriff's investigators believe the fire was started Sunday by two people burning leaves and tree branches at a home. They plan to turn their findings over to prosecutors to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
Larimer County on Tuesday banned most outdoor fires, outdoor tobacco smoking and fireworks in unincorporated parts of the county. The ban runs through Nov.1.
has been fully contained but firefighters were still working to put out hot spots within the perimeter Tuesday.
The fire near Boulder — which scorched at least 10 square miles and has cost $9.6 million to fight
Sheriff's officials said they want
"We're going to go out and pound on it."
Boulder County investigators
Colorado fire prompted the evacuation of a four-mile radius, but some residents were being allowed into the evacuation area Tuesday to check on their homes, escorted by sheriff's deputies.
JIM THOMAS Firefighter's Team Manager
by firefighters believe that fire also was human-caused. They say a fire started by a volunteer firefighter in a fire pit was likely reignited by strong winds Sept. 6, even though the firefighter
doused it with water and stirred the ashes to put it out.
A decision on whether to file charges in the Boulder fire wasn't expected until early next week, district attorney's spokeswoman Catherine Olguin said.
Fellowship of the Halo
Darton Guests/ARNAJ Bryce Pracht, a freshman from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Anthony Ison, a freshman from Pittsburgh, Kansas, and Bradford Houston, a freshman from Houston, Texas, play Halo Reach Tuesday afternoon. Halo Reach came out at midnight on Monday. Ison bought the legendary package which included along with the game: a special packaging, a 10 pound diorama statue featuring the members of Noble Team, extra in-game features, and a small journal that investigates the history of the halo legacy.
Dalton Gomez/KANSAN
HEALTH CARE
States sue Obama about health care
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Obama administration had asked U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson to dismiss the entire lawsuit. The states and the administration disagree over whether people should be required to have health insurance, and whether states should pay additional Medicaid costs not covered by the federal government.
PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge said Tuesday he will likely dismiss only parts of a lawsuit by 20 states challenging the Obama administration's health care overhaul as unconstitutional, thokgh he didn't say what portions.
The judge said he will issue a ruling by Oct. 14. The lawsuit is likely to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
"This court is free to disagree with Congress' policy judgments but it is not free to overturn 75 years of Constitutional law," he said.
Administration attorneys also argued that the section requiring health insurance doesn't take effect until 2015 and it's up to an
If Vinson upholds the states' challenge, he would overturn decades of law enforcing the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce, said Ian Heath Gershengorn, deputy assistant attorney general.
individual taxpayer not the states to challenge the law then.
But David Rivkin, an attorney representing the states, argued the law will destroy the state's Constitutional sovereignty by burdening them with uncontrolled Medicaid costs. The federal government is over reaching its taxing authority by penalizing people for not taking an action — not purchasing health insurance, he said.
"By imposing a mandate on inactive individuals they are eviscerating state sovereignty," he said.
The judge questioned whether the administration was correct
in arguing that all Americans are active participants in the health care system regardless of whether they choose to have health insurance and are therefore subject to penalties under the government's authority to regulate commerce.
Rivik likened the health care law to the subprime mortgages.
"If this cost shifting is allowed then it would let the government demand that people buy a prescribed package of mortgages," he said.
Florida's Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum filed the lawsuit just minutes after President Barack Obama signed the 10-year, $938 billion health care bill into law last March.