Sea Change Questioned

Man wrongfully convicted of SF killings to go free
(01-11) 17:48 PST San Francisco -- A man declared wrongfully convicted of a 1989 double-murder in San Francisco was ordered freed Tuesday after prosecutors said they would not seek to retry him. Caramad Conley, 40, has spent 18 years in Prison for the killings of Roshawn Johnson and Charles Hughes after being convicted based largely on the Testimony of a now-dead police informant, Clifford Polk. Superior Court Judge Marla Miller found last month that there was "voluminous" evidence that Polk h...

Oklahoma inmate executed for relative's 1994 death
This dated Oct. 2, 2003 photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Jeffrey David Matthews. Matthews is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the Jan. 27,1994 Murder of 77-yer-old Otis Earl Short, his great uncle, during a Robbery. An Oklahoma death row inmate whose execution was postponed three times has been put to death for the 1994 Murder of his 77-year-old great-uncle. A state Department of Corrections spokesman says 38-year-old Jeffrey David Matthews was pronounced dead ...

68th General Assembly set to open today
Colorado's State Legislature will convene for its sixty-eighth biannual session today. The gathering of 65 representatives and 35 senators comes one day after the inauguration of a new Governor, new state treasurer, and new Secretary of State. Republicans took control of the House of Representatives by one seat in the November election. Democrats, as they have since Jan. 2005, continue to hold the majority in the Senate. Both the House and the Senate will convene today at 10 am. Bills may be in...

S.C. mandating managed care for Medicaid patients
COLUMBIA -- Most Medicaid patients in South Carolina will be required to choose a managed care plan starting this spring, a state agency announced Tuesday. With few exceptions, the state Department of Health and Human Services is getting rid of the traditional fee-for-service model when it comes to Medicaid, the government Health Care program for the poor. Those who don't have to choose include disabled and Foster Care Children. The mandate, which received federal approval last month, expands on...

Malloys says state coping 'remarkably well' with record snow
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said today that the season's second major storm was a record-breaker, dumping more snow on Connecticut in 12 hours than the state had ever seen in a full day, up to 30 inches. "It's going to take a long time to clean up, but we have a long time between and tomorrow," Malloy said at his midday briefing in the Emergency Operations Center. "Our goal is to get back to normalcy as rapidly as we can." The Governor said that task will be greatly aided by residents and private em...

McDonnell reflects on first year and looks ahead to rest of term
One year ago, Republican Bob McDonnell became the 71st Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, walking straight into the worst Budget Crisis in modern Virginia history. Still, this governor beams with optimism. WARREN: “You are a year down in your governorship now, how does it feel?” McDONNELL: “I love being Governor. It's a tremendous privilege getting a cabinet working together to solve problems and get results and I really enjoy it.” But, he’s still realistic. ...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is ok.....a bit of a tumble
Pool producer Kirit Radia pointed out in his pool note earlier that the Secretary fell today getting on her plane at the end of the day in Yemen. Tape of the entire pool feed fed within the last hour. You see her walking up the stairs to get on the plane, she turns to wave, and when she turns back around she takes a step and falls. She gets back up almost immediately. Looks pretty bad, but State Department tells VIP pool that she is ok. . What is your opinion of how the media has handled the co...

Saudi diplomats sue over ouster from plane
Mohammed Alnahaoi and Salem Almutiry, officers of the Saudi Consulate in Houston, were returning to Houston from Minneapolis May 5, 2009, when a Flight Attendant asked them to change seats, states the Lawsuit they filed last week and reported by the Houston Chronicle. They complied but as the jet prepared to depart, the Flight Attendant then asked them to give up their new seats. The two men produced their diplomatic papers and asked for an explanation, their petition states. The flight attendan...

Atlanta weather Georgians urged to be patient as state digs out of ice and snow
As metro Atlanta flirted with total shutdown for a second day under the near-collapse of its transportation system, some state officials admitted to being overwhelmed by the ice and snow catastrophe while others urged Georgians to be patient. Ga. Politics news, helpful links PolitiFact Georgia » New Georgia Encyclopedia: Georgia lawmakers fuel up for the session by feasting on "wild" hogs. Gov. Nathan Deal, just sworn in the day before, refused to take questions on the storm du...

Brown names Karen Ross as food and agriculture secretary
Gov. Jerry Brown today announced the appointment of Karen Ross as secretary of the State Department of Food and Agriculture. Ross, who most recently worked as Chief of Staff to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is the former president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers . She has also worked for the Agricultural Council of California and served on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. The 59-year-old Democrat's experience in state agriculture i...

Powell named to welfare post
Sandra Powell has worked in state services since 1989. Providence — Governor Chafee has offered a new role — director of the state’s Department of Human Services — to Sandra Powell, the highest-ranked African-American in his predecessor’s cabinet. Chafee has asked Powell, who has been the state labor director the last three years, to lead the $2.3-billion state agency that oversees state-subsidized Health Care, child care and cash-assistance programs for low-income...

Judge creates $1.5 million fund in Kiddie Kollege negligence ruling
A New Jersey judge created a $1.5 million fund Tuesday to provide long-term medical monitoring for more than 100 babies and Children who attended the toxic Kiddie Kollege day care in Gloucester County. Superior Court Judge James E. Rafferty held the state, the county, Franklin Township, and the building owners negligent for allowing Kiddie Kollege to open inside a former thermometer factory in February 2004. He ordered them to contribute to the fund, which will provide neuro-psychological testin...

State: Snowfalls at 7 a.m. range from 14 to 22 inches
The State Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security reported this morning that snowfalls exceeded 20 inches in Rocky Hill and Newtown by 7 a.m., with forecasts calling for accumulations ranging from 16 inches to 26 inches. Statewide, the totals ranged from 14 to 22 inches. Heavy snow is expected through 10 a.m., with rates of one to three inches per hour, accompanied by increasing winds. Snow is expected to taper this afternoon and stop by 5 p.m., but the evening rush hour is ex...

Gov. Brown offers gimmick-free budget, experts say
(01-11) 04:00 PST Sacramento - -- Gov. Jerry Brown promised Californians that his Budget proposal would avoid gimmicks, and Budget experts who reviewed the plan said Brown has mostly stuck to his word. In tackling the projected $25.4 billion Deficit, Brown has proposed $12.5 billion in cuts and an additional $12 billion in taxes and avoided relying on solutions that have little chance of materializing, the experts said. Such gimmicks used to balance the Budget in the past have merely pushed t...

Powell to head human services
Sandra Powell has worked in state services since 1989. Providence — Governor Chafee has offered a new role — director of the state’s Department of Human Services — to Sandra Powell, the highest-ranked African-American in his predecessor’s cabinet. Chafee has asked Powell, who has been the state labor director the last three years, to lead the $2.3-billion state agency that oversees state-subsidized Health Care, child care and cash-assistance programs for low-income...

Gov. Brown offers gimmick-free budget, experts say
(01-12) 04:00 PST Sacramento - -- Gov. Jerry Brown promised Californians that his Budget proposal would avoid gimmicks, and Budget experts who reviewed the plan said Brown has mostly stuck to his word. In tackling the projected $25.4 billion Deficit, Brown has proposed $12.5 billion in cuts and an additional $12 billion in taxes and avoided relying on solutions that have little chance of materializing, the experts said. Such gimmicks used to balance the Budget in the past have merely pushed t...

State board OKs $176 million contract to oversee Medicaid
CARSON CITY — Despite the complaint of a rival, a five-year, $176.9 million contract has been awarded to HP Enterprise Services to take over the bill-paying and Fraud-checking in the state’s giant Medicaid program. The state Board of Examiners approved the contract after being assured by Mike Willden, the director of the State Department of Health and Welfare, that the state followed lawful bidding procedures. Rival company ACS State Healthcare claimed the state did not comply with the rules...

Gov. Brown offers gimmick-free budget, experts say
(01-12) 04:00 PST Sacramento - -- Gov. Jerry Brown promised Californians that his Budget proposal would avoid gimmicks, and Budget experts who reviewed the plan said Brown has mostly stuck to his word. In tackling the projected $25.4 billion Deficit, Brown has proposed $12.5 billion in cuts and an additional $12 billion in taxes and avoided relying on solutions that have little chance of materializing, the experts said. Such gimmicks used to balance the Budget in the past have merely pushed t...

Ritchie to lead Senate ag panel
The north country will keep its agricultural representation in the state Senate. State Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, was appointed Tuesday as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, a post her predecessor also held. Darrel J. Aubertine, a Dairy Farmer whom she beat in the November Elections, was nominated as chairman of the State Department of Agriculture and Markets. The move, north country agriculture officials said, was just the latest in a growing trend of high-rankin...

Ag and Markets
Darrel J. Aubertine is an excellent choice for commissioner of the State Department of Agriculture and Markets. His appointment by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is good for Northern New York and the state as a whole. It recognizes the former State Senator's lifelong experience as a farmer and knowledge of agriculture, especially the dairy industry. Mr. Aubertine also brings significant legislative experience to the post, having served in the state Assembly and Senate. As a legislator, he advocated ...

Despite Denials, Blackwater Still Working for U.S.
Source: WIRED News Reports that Blackwater is out of the government’s private-security game have been greatly exaggerated. A consigliere to the company’s new owners tells Danger Room that not only does the Controversial firm still hold security contracts with the State Department, it has every intention of seeking more. In October, Danger Room reported that U.S. Training Center, a division of the renamed “Xe Services,” had won part of State’s $10-billion Worldwide Protective Service

An Idea For North Dakota: Automatic Tax Cuts?
In his State of the State address yesterday to the people of Indiana, Governor (and 2012 Presidential hopeful) Mitch Daniels introduced a rather unique idea: Automatic Tax Cuts. Video of his address is below, but per the Courier-Journal, what’ Daniels wants is “an automatic Taxpayer refund that would send money back to Hoosiers anytime the state’s reserves exceed 10 percent of annual needs.” Given that most states in the union have Budget Deficits these days it’s ha...

US Runs $80B Monthly Budget Deficit
(Dow Jones) - The US Budget Deficit shrank in December, but the government still spent far more than it collected, adding to the country's already high level of Debt. The Treasury Department's regular monthly statement on spending and revenue Wednesday showed an $80 billion shortfall last month. The December Deficit met expectations and was smaller than the $91.41 billion shortfall in the same month a year prior. The gap was also smaller than October 2010's Deficit of $140.43 billion or November...

Nothing good comes easy
Bill Haslam’s going to have a hard time keeping his pledge not to fire any state workers: Finding ways to make deep cuts in state spending is one of the most pressing tasks ahead for lawmakers because federal stimulus money that had propped up the Budget is running out. Haslam isn’t scheduled to make his Budget proposals until next month, but he’s made it clear that he doesn’t foresee any immediate Layoffs. However, Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville said...

House members take key posts
State Reps. Jay Love, Jim Barton and Blaine Galliher were appointed to be chairmen of the three key committees in the Alabama House of Representatives on Wednesday. House members found out on Wednesday which committees they would serve on. Galliher, R-Gadsden, will be chairman of the Rules Committee, which decides which bills comes to the House floor for debate. Love, R-Montgomery, will be chairman of the education Budget committee. Barton, R-Mobile, will be chairman of the general fund budget...