Headlines

Local News
Complaint Filed in Red Light Camera Fight

A complaint was filed with the Texas Ethics Commission against College Station resident Jim Ash for eight possible violations of the Texas Election Code by the political action committee Take Back Your City, which opposes the use of red light cameras in College Station. According to an article in the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the complaint was filed by the lawyer for Keep College Station Safe, a political action committee formed to campaign for the red light cameras. The violations that Take Back Your City is accused of include not file timely financial disclosure reports, accepted political contributions without a campaign treasurer, failed to fully disclose the total amount of political contributions and failed to identify donors.

Texas A&M News
Texas A&M Interim President Holds a Town Hall Meeting

Texas A&M University interim President R. Bowen Loftin held a town hall meeting this week to address concerns and issues of the University. The Texas A&M Battalion reports that town hall consisted of a panel of speakers from various departments that helped explain major changes happening at Texas A&M. Topics addressed included Vision 2020, enrollment increase, the ongoing search for a new president, and concerns with the current flu season. The town hall concluded with an open forum during which students asked questions concerning military walk and the Howdy portal.

Texas News
Texas Ranks Nearly Last in Receiving Stimulus Funds

The Dallas Morning News reports that analysis of federal grants and contracts shows that Texas has received less funding per resident from the stimulus package so far than almost any other state. Texas has been approved for about $12.9 billion in stimulus grants and contracts, not including the estimated $4.2 billion that Texans received through the law's main individual tax credit, according to federal estimates. When adjusted for population, the state's share of stimulus grants ($533 per person) ranks 49th among 50 states, according to data reported by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.

Texas Politics
Perry Shakes Up Agency Investigating Possible Innocent Man's Execution

Governor Rick Perry replaced the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission during the politically sensitive and potentially explosive investigation into the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, Perry appointed John Bradley, Williamson County's chief prosecutor, to lead the state agency investigating whether Willingham was executed based on a fatally flawed arson investigation. The Forensic Science Commission made news in August when a fire scientist hired by the commission concluded the arson ruling that was key to Willingham's conviction was based on bad science, unproven theories and personal bias by arson investigators. The commission was created in 2005 to investigate allegations of scientific negligence or misconduct in criminal matters. Its final report on Willingham was expected early next year, but Wednesday's personnel changes are expected to push that deadline back indefinitely.

National Politics
Hidden ‘Bundles’ of Lobbyist Giving Show Full Court Press by Health Care Donors

Open Secrets reports that a collaborative investigation by the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics has uncovered never-before-seen webs of campaign contributions from outside lobbyists and their clients, who are all important players in the healthcare reform, to key members of Congress. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and author of the main health care reform bill now being debated in the Senate, was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this one-two punch from the lobbyists and their clients. In all, 11 major health and insurance firms had their contributions to Baucus boosted through extra donations from 10 or more of their outside lobbyists. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., collected lobbyist “bundles” from 14 major healthcare organizations. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., actually led the list, with 22 organizations. In all, 61 members of Congress—39 in the Senate, 22 in the House, 38 Democrats and 23 Republicans—got money from 10 or more outside lobbyists whose healthcare or health insurance industry clients also contributed to their campaigns.

War and Peace
4,000 U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq

This week General Ray Odierno, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, testified before Congress that United States will withdraw about 4,000 troops from Iraq by the end of October. The Washington Post reports that the United States is on track to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by September 2010. Approximately 124,000 troops and 11 Combat Teams operating in Iraq today, and according to Odierno’s testimony by the end of October there will be 120,000 troops in Iraq. The number of U.S. contractors in Iraq has dropped from 149,000 in January to just over 115,000, saving over $441 million; nearly 100 U.S. bases also have been closed. This year 128 United States military members have died in Iraq, and 4,666 military members have died in Iraq since the war began.

Health Care
Study Finds That Cost Higher in Texas If Health Reform Fails

A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation projects that by 2019, Texas' ranks of uninsured, public program spending and individual and employee health care expenses will balloon if reform isn't passed. The study, which estimates how coverage and cost trends would change from now to 2019 if health care isn't reformed, found out-of-pocket expenses could increase by more than 35 percent in every state. The effects in Texas within 10 years include: as many as 8.3 million residents would be uninsured, up from 6 million this year, the average resident's health care spending would increase as much as 81 percent, employers' premiums would increase as much as 121 percent, Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program spending would increase as much as 117 percent, and uncompensated care would increase by as much as 138 percent.

Economy
US Income Gap Widens as Poor Take Hit in Recession

According to an article in the New York Times, the recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, and has widened the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs effect household budgets. The wealthiest 10 percent of Americans (those making more than $138,000 each year) earned 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living near or below the poverty line in 2008, according to newly released census figures. That ratio was an increase from 11.2 in 2007 and the previous high of 11.22 in 2003. Household income declined across all groups, but at sharper percentage levels for middle-income and poor Americans. Median income fell last year from $52,163 to $50,303, wiping out a decade's worth of gains to hit the lowest level since 1997. Poverty jumped sharply to 13.2 percent, an 11-year high.

Environment
Twenty Percent of the World's Mammals Are at Risk of Extinction

Almost 10% of the World's mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish are at risk of extinction because of threats including habitat loss and climate change. According report by BBC News, a study by Australia's Biological Resources Study, a project aiming to document all of the planet's known animal and plant species, found that almost 1% of the World's 1.9 million classified species were threatened, included 9.2% of major vertebrate species. The study found that 20% of mammals were endangered, as were 12% percent of birds and 29% of amphibians, and almost 5% of reptiles were considered threatened, along with 4% of fish species.

Civil Rights
Supreme Court to Hear Second Amendment and Patriot Act Cases

Free Speech Radio News reported earlier this week that the United States Supreme Court announced the cases it is preparing to consider in this year’s session including two high-profile cases; one case dealing with the Patriot Act and another the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court will assess a portion of the Patriot Act that prohibits U.S. residents from donating money or resources to support terrorist groups. The provision has been condemned by civil rights organizations that argue it is too vague and could block various peaceful and nonviolent activities, such as human rights training. The Court will also decide whether local and state governments can ban the possession of handguns. The case stems from a Chicago gun-rights group who opposes the gun ban in that city, saying it violates the Second Amendment.

Reproductive Rights
New Push to Define Person and to Outlaw Abortion in the Process

Anti-abortion groups are attempting a new strategy to outlaw abortion by lobbying to amend state constitutions to define personhood from conception. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, in several states across the country activists are gathering signatures, pressing state legislators and raising money to put “personhood” measures on ballots next year. Pro-choice groups say that the “personhood” movement threatens in vitro fertilization; some kinds of birth control, including IUDs and pills; and stem cell research. Defeats of personhood measures around the country have not daunted proponent; earlier this year, the legislatures of Montana and North Dakota rejected personhood measures, but the close votes alarmed supporters of legal abortion.

Women’s Issues
Darfur Women Refugees in Chad Face Rape in Camps

A report by Amnesty International found that women who fled violence in Sudan's Darfur region are being regularly raped in refugee camps in neighboring Chad, despite the presence of United Nations trained forces. Chadian police supported by the United Nations were doing little to protect women and girls from sexual attacks and other violence by villagers, soldiers, family and in some cases aid workers. According to the Amnesty International report, more than 142,000 women and girls had fled Darfur's six-year conflict to take refuge in 12 camps inside Chad's border. Rights groups have reported the widespread rape of women during the conflict in Sudan's remote western Darfur region.

GLBT Issues
Research Concludes GLBT Students Face Levels of Harassment Higher Than Their High School Peers

Middle school GLBT students are significantly more likely to face hostile school climates than high school GLBT students, yet have less access to school resources and support according to a new report by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. More than 9 out of 10 GLBT middle school students said they experienced harassment at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, 59% experienced physical harassment and a 39% said they had been physically assaulted, nearly twice as many as in high school (20%). More than 8 out of 10 GLBT middle school students reported hearing homophobic epithets frequently or often from other students in school, a higher percentage than high school students (73%). Also, 63% of GLBT middle school students had heard school staff make homophobic remark.

Race and Racism
Study Finds Doctors Often Register Unconscious Bias Against Blacks

A study published in Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved found that white physicians often show an unconscious bias against black patients. Psychological testing determined that white physicians have friendlier attitudes toward anonymous white people than toward black people. White, Asian and Hispanic doctors showed preferences for whites over blacks, while black physicians showed no significant preference, the study said. These unconscious preferences for whites were two to three times' higher than the physicians' self-reported attitudes. According to the study’s authors the gap between physicians' conscious attitudes and their implicit preferences could help explain why black patients receive worse care.