Update: Member of Obama Delegation to Mexico Tests Positive for Swine Flu, Along with his Son and Wife

The White House has issued a health advisory outlining "protective measures" for anyone who traveled on President Barack Obama’s trip to Mexico after a member of the U.S. delegation came down with flu-like symptoms – and tests on his family showed they’re probably infected with the swine flu.

The individual – an advance security staffer for Energy Secretary Steven Chu –appears to have spread the flu to his wife, son and nephew. All three have tested probable for swine flu, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday.

Gibbs, who did not name the security aide, said he did not work closely with Obama, didn’t fly on Air Force One and is back at work at the Energy Department.

More from Politico

Obama Security Advance Team Member Has Suspected Case of Swine Flu #breaking

Obama Security Advance Team Member Has Suspected Case of Swine Flu
A member of the security advance team for President Obama's recent trip to Mexico is suspected of having contracted swine flu.

News Alert
1:54 p.m. ET Thursday, April 30, 2009
Washingtonpost.com

Amtrak Joe Biden on Swine Flu: Avoid Trains, Subways, Airplanes

Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not recommend taking any commercial flight or riding in a subway car “at this point” because swine flu virus can spread “in confined places.” A little more than one hour later, Biden rushed out a statement backing off.

“I would tell members of my family — and I have — I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said on NBC’s “Today” show.. “It’s not that it’s going to Mexico. It’s [that] you’re in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. …

“So, from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation. If you’re out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that’s one thing. If you’re in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it’s a different thing.”

That contradicted more restrained advice from President Barack Obama and the federal government — and the last thing the White House wants to do right now is shut down the airline industry and big-city subways out of mass panic.

The White House quickly arranged for Biden to make this statement through a spokesperson.

Politico Story

Update: Air Force One Photo shoot over DC Monuments Cancelled

Don't look for the Air Force to conduct a photo shoot over Washington's monuments, like it did over New York.

A shoot planned for next week in D.C. has been canceled, WTOP has learned.

The cost for the flight that caused panic in New York was was $328,835, but the Air Force says the hours would have been flown anyway.

The White House calls the public relations stunt a mistake that "will not happen again."

Story from WTOP

Air Force One NYC Photo Op Cost Taxpayers $328,835

As people throughout America are losing their jobs, this seems like an excellent expenditure of tax payer money (sarcasm added).
=-=-==-
The cost of the frivolous flight was about $60,000 an hour and that was just for Air Force One. That doesn't include the cost of the two F-16s that came along.

The flight by the VC-25, a modified Boeing Co. 747, and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said.

That includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for the F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, Stein said in an e-mailed statement.

April 28 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama ordered a review of a publicity-photo shoot with one of the planes that serves as Air Force One that cost taxpayers $328,835 and caused a furor in New York City.

Obama said he wasn’t informed in advance of yesterday’s low-altitude flight over New York Harbor, which rattled windows in New York’s financial district and prompted some office workers to flee buildings in fear it was a terrorist attack.

“It was a mistake,” Obama said today before a meeting at FBI headquarters in Washington. “It will not happen again.”

The incident continued to reverberate in New York and Washington today with two senators demanding an accounting of how the flight was approved, its cost and procedures aimed at avoiding a repeat.

“The supposed mission represents a fundamentally unsound exercise in military judgment and may have constituted an inappropriate use of Department of Defense resources,” Senator John McCain of Arizona wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

McCain, the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, asked Gates to provide a description of the mission, who ultimately approved it and an estimate of how much it cost.

The flight by the VC-25, a modified Boeing Co. 747, and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said.

Three-Hour Mission

That includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for the F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, Stein said in an e-mailed statement.

The total includes fuel used in flight, fuel used to power ground equipment used to prepare the aircraft, and ground maintenance, Stein said.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday’s flyover was “two training missions that became in the end a picture mission” and only Air Force personnel were aboard.

Obama has directed Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina to review “how the decision was made to conduct the flight,” Gibbs said at the daily White House briefing.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York said in a statement that he asked Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, whose department oversee the Federal Aviation Administration, to create an “ironclad procedure” to inform the public about such flights at least 48 hours in advance.

Anticipating Concern

“Somewhere along the line, someone at the FAA should have had the foresight to realize that New Yorkers would see this stunt and think back to 9-11,” Schumer said.

McCain, who ran against Obama in the 2008 presidential election, also said that the disruption and panic caused by the flight should have been foreseeable. He wrote that the apology and acceptance of responsibility from Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, “rings hollow.”

Obama today ignored questions from reporters about whether Caldera should keep his job.

Caldera yesterday took responsibility for authorizing a photo shoot involving the specially equipped 747 aircraft and a fighter jet escort that frightened Wall Street workers. The plane flew as low as 1,000 feet (305 meters).

In a statement yesterday evening, Caldera apologized for “any distress” it caused. While federal officials “took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it’s clear that the mission created confusion and disruption,” he said.

Caldera, 53, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a lawyer, was secretary of the Army during the Clinton administration and previously was a state legislator in California.

‘Furious’ Reaction

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday that he was “furious” when he was told about the flight. Obama also was “furious” about the incident and the confusion it caused, Gibbs told reporters.

Gibbs said the White House review of the incident probably wouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks. “And the president will look at that review and take any appropriate steps after that,” Gibbs said.

Paul Browne, deputy New York City police commissioner, said yesterday that the department was told by the FAA not to inform the public about what it thought would be a higher flyover by two F-16s and an Air Force VC-25 aircraft. The VC-25, a military version of the 747, is used as Air Force One when the president flies on it.

The planes flew past the Statue of Liberty and the financial district near the World Trade Center site that was hit in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The aircraft were on a “photo mission,” Jim Peters, an FAA spokesman, said yesterday.


Bloomerberg Story

White House Blunder - Low-flying plane over Staten Island and New York Harbor sparks fears of terror attack

Invoking fears that another terrorist attack was underway, a low-flying plane, closely escorted by two F-16 fighter jets, was spotted over Staten Island's North Shore and New York Harbor just before 10 a.m.

Update from USA TODAY:
The head of White House Military Office has apologized for rattling — and angering — New Yorkers with a low flyover by an Air Force One backup.

The Boeing 747 jet, accompanied by two F-16 fighters, swooped over New York Harbor so Air Force photographers could take pictures. The 30-minute morning flight conjured up memories of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and prompted evacuations of some offices.

“I thought, ‘Oh, hell,’ that it was 9/11 all over again,” Kate Geraghty, a Verizon Communications Inc. sales executive who saw the airplane from Jersey City, N.J., told Bloomberg News. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, this plane is going to crash.’”

Louis E. Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, issued an apology this afternoon.

"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," he said in a statement. "While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it’s clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

Aides said that President Obama was mad and that senior administration officials let Caldera know during an afternoon meeting, The New York Times says.

Caldera was secretary of the Army under President Clinton from 1998 until 2001.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wondered about the wisdom of the photo-op.
“Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe defies imagination,” Bloomberg said at a City Hall news conference.

Swine Flu = Public Health Emergency Declared

White House press brief going on now live, regarding SWINE FLU

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/


public health emergency declared - planning to release drugs from the SNS for DoD personnel.

CDC Recommends planning for school closings.

No evidence of bio-terror, but they are still investigating.

Breakout occurred in Mexico City on the day that Obama Visited... Man who greeted Obama in Mexico City died a few days later....

GIBBS: Obama has not been treated with antibiotics at this time.

Tests, videos show failures of DC paramedics

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A large number of District of Columbia paramedics failed to meet minimum national standards on written exams for entry-level skills, according to documents and interviews.

Of the city's approximately 250 paramedics, about 175 went through an assessment program at a Maryland training center between March and June 2008. According to test scores for 95 paramedics in the assessment, only three scored high enough to get a passing grade. The results were obtained by The Washington Times.

Several emergency medical experts who reviewed the written results and videotaped assessments of basic lifesaving procedures said the paramedics pose a safety risk for the nation's capital.

"To be perfectly honest, I think there's a real threat here," said Paul Werfel, director of New York's Stony Brook University's paramedic program. "The safety of the people of the District of Columbia is at risk. It's a clear and present danger to them."

Complete Story from the Examiner

Airline Passenger's Paralysis Puts Focus on Turbulence, In-Flight Injuries

A Continental Airlines passenger suffered a broken neck and broken back on Saturday when a flight experienced serious turbulence over Texas. The 47 year-old female passenger was injured in the plane's lavatory at a time when flight attendants had instructed passengers to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts, according to news reports.

ABC News is reporting that the unidentified woman "was one of two passengers and one crew member on Continental flight 511 from Houston to McAllen who were injured early Saturday morning in mid-flight." The woman is currently experiencing paralysis from her chest to her toes and is undergoing a second surgery, and her chances of making any degree of recovery are unknown.

According to CNN, federal aviation officials are investigating the "rocky Texas flight", and the seriously injured passenger has retained an attorney who states that "his client struck her head on the bathroom ceiling when the plane suddenly dropped during turbulence."

How Common are In-Flight Injuries? Serious in-flight injuries on major airlines are pretty rare. FAA statistics show that about 58 people in the U.S. are injured each year by turbulence, with 198 turbulence accidents causing 266 serious injuries and three fatalities from 1980 through 2004. According to the FAA, turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries to passengers and flight attendants, and two-thirds of turbulence-related accidents occur at or above 30,000 feet. Learn more about Turbulence and Staying Safe.

By David Goguen on April 22, 2009 6:59 AM

Swine Flu - 60 Dead, 800 infected in Mexico, Schools Closed, Now 7 infected in USA

U.S. Swine Flu Cases Rise To 7 As Health Officials Investigate Mexico Epidemic

Kris Alingod - AHN Contributor

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Health officials are investigating if an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico that has reportedly left nearly 60 dead has spread to the United States, where cases of a new strain of H1N1 virus has infected seven people.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is investigating the five confirmed cases of swine influenza in California and two in Texas.

All seven people, including a nine-year old girl in Imperial County, CA, did not have contact with pigs. They have fully recovered but the virus that caused the infections "contain[s] a unique combination of gene segments that previously has not been reported among swine or human influenza viruses in the United States or elsewhere," the CDC said.

Swine flu is a rare among humans, and only 12 cases have been reported in the United States since 2005. Infections are usually among people who work in close proximity to pigs. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and a lack of appetite.

More than 800 people are believed to be infected with swine flu in Mexico, which canceled classes in all levels on Friday. Mexican officials have confirmed 20 deaths, but as much as 60 people are suspected to have died due to the epidemic.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has issued a travel advisory warning that people who recently returned from Mexico could be infected.

The World Health Organization has said the exposures in the Latin American nation was among healthy adults.

"Because these cases are not happening in the very old or the very young, which is normal with seasonal influenza, this is an unusual event and a cause for heightened concern," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told CBC.

AHN Story

CDC Release

Capitol Police chief vows action over Facebook

Thursday, April 23, 2009

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Phillip D. Morse promised Wednesday to deal "swiftly" and "seriously" with any members of the force who are found to have participated in online forums that contained degrading references to women and glorified excessive drinking.

"We will investigate it vigorously," Chief Morse told a congressional subcommittee Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill. "And if we find any misconduct, we will deal with it very swiftly and very seriously."

The Washington Times reported Tuesday that an anonymous complaint addressed to the department contained the names of nine purported Capitol Police officers who were said to belong to a public group on the social networking site Facebook called the "Make-it-Rain Foundation for Underprivileged Hoes."

One of the purported officers also founded a Facebook group called "Passed Out in Trashcans" - a three-member group geared toward "anyone else that has woken up from a long night of drinking to find themselves in the trashcan."

During a budget hearing before the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on the legislative branch, Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Democrat, said she perceived the "Make-it-Rain" group as "hostile towards women" and said law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard of conduct than others, even in their private lives.

"That kind of conduct, if true, is not conduct that is simply left on Facebook or in their personal lives," Mrs. Wasserman Schultz, the House's chief deputy whip and a vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said after the hearing. "A person who would be hostile towards women on a Facebook page would also likely be hostile towards women in the work environment.

"It's incredibly important that law enforcement officers conduct themselves in a manner that is appropriate for interacting with the public and interacting with their colleagues," she said.

During the hearing, Chief Morse referred to the force's rules of conduct and promised to deal swiftly with officers "who do not embrace our core values." The department's Office of Professional Responsibility is looking into the complaint, and Mrs. Wasserman Schultz said an internal investigation is appropriate for now.

"It's very concerning to me to have an allegation like that surface about the United States Capitol Police," Chief Morse said. "Certainly we don't condone any of that."

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's nonvoting representative in Congress, also has contacted the department about the Facebook postings, her office said.

"The congresswoman has spoken with U.S. Capitol Police Assistant Chief Daniel Nichols, and he assured her that the department has already begun investigating the matter, will continue its due diligence and, if officers are found to have taken inappropriate actions, the department will take action with them," said Sonsyrea Montgomery, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Norton, a Democrat.

The Make-it-Rain group's home page includes an excerpt about the escapades of NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones in which the former Dallas Cowboy and Tennessee Titan approached an exotic dancer on stage and threw $1 bills into the air - an action known as "making it rain."

"Please join our foundation's mission by spreading the knowledge and pledging to help make it rain on the hoes in your life and the underprivileged hoes throughout the world," the group's page states. "If you are a hoe that is in need of rain, please look no further than the generous men gathered here to donate rain to your lives."

The Times was able to access Facebook pages for three of the purported officers whose names appear in the anonymous complaint, which was addressed to the department's Office of Professional Responsibility.

One of the page profiles depicted a man who identified himself as a Capitol Police officer. Another showed a photograph of a man in a Capitol Police uniform posing outside the Capitol, and a third page contained several candid photographs of a man in a Capitol Police T-shirt. The pages also contained personal information, such as members' birth dates, cities of residence and photographs.

All three of the profiles identified their owners as members of the Make-it-Rain group. A day after The Times attempted to contact the purported officers through their public Facebook profiles, the three profiles had been made inaccessible.

Story by Gary Emerling

Cubs-Inspired Cemetery Opens Wednesday on Chicago's North Side

From CNBC

Two years ago, when Dennis Mascari went to visit his father at a cemetery, he came up with an idea: Build an area for deceased Cubs fans.

Mascari, who said he was broke at the time, made this his mission, and tomorrow his company Fans Forever will open Beyond the Vines, an internment area modeled after Wrigley Field's centerfield wall.

"The goal was to try and take away some of the gloominess and depression from a cemetery visit," Mascari told me.

Mascari bought plots at the Bohemian National Cemetery on Chicago's North side. He then built a red-brick wall modeled after the one that stands in centerfield at Wrigley Field. The structure includes a stained glass scoreboard.

Complete CNBC Story

Beyond the Vines Website

At Wrigley for the Cubs v Cards!

Umpire says he was bumped by Cubs' Bradley during ejection

An umpire working Thursday's St, Louis Cardinals-Chicago Cubs said he will file a report after there was physical contact involved in Milton Bradley's ejection, meaning Bradley could be subject to a suspension, according to MLB.com.

The Chicago Tribune reported late Thursday night that second-base umpire Larry Iassogna said a report would be filed because it was a "contact" incident.

Bradley was ejected in the sixth inning by home-plate umpire Larry Vanover after a called third strike and a brief but heated verbal exchange. Iassogna declined comment when asked how Bradley made contact with Vanover, the Tribune reported.

Bradley was making his first appearance with the Cubs at Wrigley Field when Adam Wainwright struck him out on a full-count pitch.

Source: MLB.com

High Winds Cause Golden Arches to Fall, Crush Chevy Trailblazer in Arizona

Window Rock, AZ (AHN) - Golden arches at a McDonald's restaurant near Tucson fell on a parked car, crushing the Chevy Trailblazer and seriously injuring the couple inside.

High winds gusting to 60 miles per hour are being blamed for tearing the sign from its poles and sending it flying down onto the car.

Carolyn Janke, 68 and her husband Russell Janke, 70, a retired engineer, from Naperville, IL were heading back home from their winter home near Tucson when the accident happened. Carolyn was unconscious and had to be cut from the car. She was hospitalized in intensive care with spinal column and sternum fractures while Russell suffered a blow to the head that required 70 stitches.

Authorities are conducting an investigation into how the giant sign became loose.

From AHN

United Airlines Says Overweight Travelers Will Need To Buy Extra Seats Or Be Denied Entry To Planes

United Airlines will begin aggressively enforcing a new policy that allows it to charge heavier passengers twice to fly.

United will now implement new policies for passengers they deem to be overweight.

Under the rules outlined by United, passengers who "are unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin; are unable to properly buckle the seatbelt using a single seatbelt extender; and/or are unable to put the seat's armrests down when seated" will be denied boarding unless they purchase an extra seat.

If no empty seat exists, the passenger will be forced to take a later flight.

Complete Story

Outrage of the Day: NBC Wants Blagojevich for Reality TV Show

The former governor of Illinois, who pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering and fraud charges Tuesday, has inked a deal to star on NBC's summer reality series, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Blagojevich's participation requires court approval because the show will be shot in Costa Rica and he is not allowed to leave the United States.

Blagojevich would be one of 10 celebrities competing in survival-of-the-fittest challenges in the Costa Rican jungle to raise money for charity. The series, adapted from the U.K. version, will premiere June 1 and is slated to unspool four nights a week for a month.

More from TV GUIDE

Easter Egg Roll at the White House

The 2009 Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn - a tradition since 1878! According to the Administration, this is the largest public event that has been held at the White House since the Obama's greeted guests in the Blue Room the day after the Inauguration. Today, more than 30,000 families from 45 states are expected to participate.

This year’s theme is Let’s Go Play! Children will be encouraged to lead healthy, active lives and will be able to participate in a wide variety of activities ranging from basketball on the White House court, soccer, a dance floor, yoga, and Double Dutch. The Easter Egg Roll will also feature a reading stage, a music stage – some special guests will perform throughout the day – and a Kids Kitchen where White House and guest chefs will teach kids how to cook easy, energizing snacks and meals.

In addition to all of these activities, 13,000 hard boiled eggs are ready for the traditional Easter Egg Roll and Egg Hunt!

You can watch the live stream of the South Lawn Easter Egg Roll Here

Purchase your Official White House Easter Egg for 7 dollars from
The National Park Foundation

BIG BLUNDER! UK Terror Czar Resigns After Being Photographed Carrying Around Secret Anti-Terror Documents in the Open!

The police officer in charge of U.K. anti-terrorism operations resigned after he inadvertently revealed details of plans to arrest al-Qaeda-linked suspects.

Bob Quick, an assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, carried a document detailing the probe in full view of photographers as he walked into Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s residence in Downing Street yesterday. Police later arrested 12 people in connection with the inquiry in northwestern England.

“I have today offered my resignation in the knowledge that my action could have compromised a major counter-terrorism operation,” Quick said today in an e-mailed statement. “I deeply regret the disruption caused to colleagues undertaking the operation and remain grateful for the way in which they adapted quickly and professionally to a revised timescale.”

The incident is a new blow for the Metropolitan Police, after former Commissioner Ian Blair resigned in October saying that Mayor Boris Johnson wanted him out. The force has struggled with the fallout from the shooting of an innocent Brazilian man during an anti-terrorism operation in 2005, and is under scrutiny again over the death of a man who collapsed shortly after being pushed to the ground by an officer during G-20 demonstrations in London last week.

Pictures of Quick carrying the document, which contained details of “Operation Pathway,” an investigation into the planning of a possible al-Qaeda-inspired attack against the U.K., appeared in national newspapers and on Web sites and were broadcast by television channels.

‘Security Breach’

The document, which could be clearly read, said suspects included Pakistani nationals in the U.K. on student visas. The raids were carried out earlier than planned as a result of the blunder, Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Peter Fahy said in televised press conference.

The operation “would have been carried out in the subsequent 24 hours, but what happened meant we brought the matter forward,” Fahy said. He added that police are not aware of any specific targets of the alleged plot.

Twelve people were arrested at eight addresses on suspicion of terrorism, Greater Manchester Police said in an e-mailed statement. Eleven are Pakistani nationals, Fahy told reporters.

Complete Story by Thomas Penny - Bloomberg

Hello from HIMSS09!

I am in Chicago this week, attending HIMSS09! What is HIMSS you ask? Well... The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.

I will be scoping out the best the Health IT industry has to offer!

Blagojevich, top aides indicted on corruption

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, his brother Rob and Christopher Kelly, a former top fundraiser for Blagojevich, were all indicted today on corruption charges, the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago announced.

Embarrassment of the Day: Giving the Queen an iPod!

What to give a 82 year old Queen? An iPod?! Well, at least it is better than giving her DVDs that do not work in her DVD player....


Abc News Reports:
What Does One Get a Queen?

April 01, 2009 1:57 PM

President and First Lady Obama gave Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II a video iPod with inscription, songs uploaded and accessories, plus a rare musical songbook signed by Richard Rodgers.

Uploaded onto the iPod:

* Photos from the Queen's 2007 White House State Visit
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown, Va., Visit
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 Richmond, Va., Visit
* Video from the Queen's 1957 Jamestown Visit
* Video from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown Visit
* Video from the Queen's 2007 Richmond Visit
* Photos from President Obama's Inauguration
* Audio of then-state senator Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and
* Audio of President Obama 2009 Inauguration Address

Britain's Press Association reports that the Royal couple gave the Obamas "a silver-framed, signed photograph of themselves."

The Obamas' gift-giving was closely monitored in the UK after the couple came under fire for giving England's prime minister a set of American movie DVDs that weren't formatted for European players during his White House visit earlier this month.

ABC News Story

Outrage of the Day: DC Council Considers Grocery Bag Tax

With the economy officially in a recession, and unemployment in the double digits, the brilliant DC Council is set to implement yet another tax.

WASHINGTON - District residents may soon have to start saving up their nickles: the city council is considering a five-cent fee on all grocery bags, paper or plastic.

The fee would apply to all vendors, including grocery stores, street vendors, convenience stores and drug stores.

The move is designed to help consumers go green while helping the city make some green. The move is part of an initiative to help clean up the Anacostia River. The eight-mile river, once considered the jewel of the region, now carries the burden of being one of the most polluted.

The logic behind the idea is that while many shoppers recycle their plastic bags, many others wind up leaving them on top of trashcans or dropping them on the street. The used bags often wind up in storm drains and eventually in the Anacostia River. The fewer shoppers with bags, the council says, the fewer bags in the water.

The majority of the D.C. Council supports the legislation, which will be officially introduced to the D.C. City Council on Tuesday.

Elderly and low-income shoppers would be given durable, reusable shopping bags free of charge; other District residents can buy reusable shopping tote bags at most grocery stores for around a dollar.

Opponents of the plan say everyone is watching their budget these days, and all those nickles will add up. Consumer Christine Williams argued that the bag fees would add up quickly on the end of her already hefty food bill. "Everything is so astronomical, even to think about an extra five cents, doesn't seem like a lot, as often as you go, and you think about it annually -- it's going to add up."

"Five cents each is a lot, I think," added D.C. resident Robert Navotny.

"They need to be going down on the prices, not going up on the prices," complained D.C. resident Meco Hart.

"I just wanted to know how charging five cents a bag is going to prevent them from ending up in the Anacostia River," said Larry Toles, a D.C. employee.

Justice Department - DC Voting Rights = Unconstitutional

The DC House Voting Rights Act (H.R.157/S.160) is bipartisan legislation that would bring congressional voting representation to DC residents for the first time ever. Though it is a good idea in theory, it is my personal belief that it is unconstitutional. Apparently lawyers at the Justice Department felt the same way. It is interesting that President Obama, who once was a constitutional law professor, is so supportive of this bill.

A Split At Justice On D.C. Vote Bill
Holder Overrode Ruling That Measure Is Unconstitutional

By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 1, 2009; Page A01

Justice Department lawyers concluded in an unpublished opinion earlier this year that the historic D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional, according to sources briefed on the issue. But Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who supports the measure, ordered up a second opinion from other lawyers in his department and determined that the legislation would pass muster.

A finding that the voting rights bill runs afoul of the Constitution could complicate an upcoming House vote and make the measure more vulnerable to a legal challenge that probably would reach the Supreme Court if it is enacted. The bill, which would give the District a vote in the House for the first time, appeared to be on the verge of passing last month before stalling when pro-gun legislators tried to attach an amendment weakening city gun laws. Supporters say it could reach the House floor in May.

In deciding that the measure is unconstitutional, lawyers in the department's Office of Legal Counsel matched a conclusion reached by their Bush administration counterparts nearly two years ago, when a lawyer there testified that a similar bill would not withstand legal attack.

Holder rejected the advice and sought the opinion of the solicitor general's office, where lawyers told him that they could defend the legislation if it were challenged after its enactment.

Democratic and Republican Justice Department veterans said it is unusual, though not unprecedented, for the solicitor general, who backs the administration's position before the Supreme Court, to be asked to weigh in before a case makes its way into a courtroom. Typically, legal scholars said, the solicitor general is asked whether the office can plausibly defend a law in court, rather than to opine directly on the legality of a piece of legislation. The office was asked for the opinion several weeks ago, before the Senate confirmed Elena Kagan as the new solicitor general.

Through a spokesman, Holder portrayed the basis for his override of the OLC ruling as grounded in law, not politics.

"The attorney general weighed the advice of different people inside the department, as well as the opinions of legal scholars, and made his own determination that the D.C. voting rights bill is constitutional," Matthew Miller said. "As the leader of the department, it is his responsibility to make his best independent legal judgment, and he believes that although there are reasonable arguments on both sides of the issue, ultimately the bill would constitutionally grant D.C. residents a right to elect a voting representative in Congress."

Holder's decision to get involved may expose President Obama's Justice Department to some of the same concerns raised by Democrats during George W. Bush's presidency.

Democrats claimed then that political considerations infused decisions on subjects including environmental regulations and national security policy. In particular, Bush's OLC drew criticism when lawyers allegedly shaped their analysis on harsh interrogation tactics and warrantless eavesdropping to fit the views of superiors in the White House.

M. Edward Whelan III, who was a deputy at OLC during the Bush administration, said when informed of the matter that Holder's decision to override the office's conclusions amounted to a "blatant abuse" of the office's purpose.

Questions over the constitutionality of a D.C. voting bill have dogged the proposal throughout its journey through Congress. Some legal experts say that because the District is not a state, the proposal does not square with a constitutional requirement that House members be chosen "every second year by the people of the several states." Others argue that the Constitution gives Congress broad power over the District, including the ability to grant it a full House seat.

Both Holder and Obama have expressed support for D.C. voting rights in the past. In an interview earlier this year, Obama described himself as a "strong proponent" of giving the District voting representation in Congress. As a U.S. senator, he co-sponsored a similar measure two years ago. Signing the legislation would represent a political victory for him, even if the Supreme Court later reversed the law, said sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the controversy is sensitive and ongoing.

Holder, who has lived in the District for more than two decades, co-signed a 2007 letter with other prominent lawyers supporting D.C. voting rights legislation.

The measure would create two new permanent seats in the House, one for the District and one for Utah, although that seat could transfer to a different state based on the results of the 2010 census.

In 2007 testimony before the Senate, Bush lawyer John P. Elwood said that the D.C. voting rights legislation was not constitutional because the District is not a state.

"In the absence of a constitutional amendment, therefore, the explicit provisions of the Constitution do not permit Congress to grant congressional representation to the District through legislation," he told lawmakers.

Advocates of the measure note that its constitutionality has been endorsed by powerful legal voices, including the American Bar Association, former federal appellate judge Kenneth W. Starr and former Justice Department lawyer Viet D. Dinh. Starr and Dinh have written a legal brief supporting the bill.

Supporters note that courts have often treated the District as if it were a state, addressing, for example, questions of whether D.C. residents are subject to laws governing federal taxation, interstate commerce and the right to a jury trial.

The Office of Legal Counsel remains a source of intense interest in the legal community and on Capitol Hill, where Senate Republicans have delayed a vote to confirm Dawn Johnsen, an Indiana University law professor nominated to lead the office. Johnsen, who served as acting leader of the office during the Clinton administration, has been a vocal critic of political influence there and has advocated for more transparency in the work of its lawyers.

Complete Story From the Washington Post

Why I Drink Bottled Water

Chlorine taste and smell coming to DC water soon!

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal authorities say there might be a slight chlorine taste and smell to tap water in D.C. and parts of northern Virginia for the next month.

That's because the Washington Aqueduct will temporarily resume using the disinfecting chemical from April 6 to May 4 in water drawn from the Potomac River. Officials say the water will continue to meet federal health standards.

A chlorine flush has been carried out each spring in recent years to kill microorganisms and help clean the pipes that serve D.C., Arlington County, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County.

Officials say any noticeable chlorine taste might be reduced by refrigerating the water overnight. And any discoloration should be eliminated by letting cold water run.

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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com