Thursday News Roundup

Written by: Sheri Divers on May 10, 2007 6:00 PM EDT

Oregon gov. signs domestic partner bill

SALEM, Ore. - Oregon on Wednesday joined a growing list of states prepared to offer gay couples at least some of the benefits of marriage.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed legislation creating "domestic partnerships" for gays and lesbians in the state starting Jan. 1. He also signed a bill that outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, effective the same date.

Kansas Board of Ed. repeals conservative sex ed policies

TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) -- The Kansas Board of Education on Tuesday repealed sex education policies enacted last year, the latest move by the moderate majority to undo efforts by conservatives when they dominated the board.

One rescinded policy recommended that schools stress abstinence until marriage, while the other urged school districts to get parental permission before students could attend human sexuality classes.

On a 6-3 vote, the board replaced the policies with one that recommends "abstinence plus" sex education programs and leaves it up to the state's 296 school districts to decide whether to get parental permission.

Patrick Pushes $1B Biotech Investment

BOSTON (AP) - Gov. Deval Patrick proposed Tuesday that Massachusetts invest $1 billion in the biotechnology industry and challenge California as a hub for stem-cell research.

Patrick's 10-year plan was revealed in a speech at a biotechnology convention in Boston. Money would be spent on research grants to scientists and improving public college facilities, Patrick said.

``We want Massachusetts to provide the global platform for bringing your innovations from the drawing board to the market, from inspiration to commercialization, from ideas to cures,'' Patrick told scientists and company officials.

Oklahoma: Hundred rally against pending immigration bill

TULSA, Okla. — Hundreds of people rallying here hoped Gov. Brad Henry in Oklahoma City would hear their call for him to veto an immigration reform bill approved in the Legislature.

The group of mainly Hispanic people marched down Garnett Road Saturday afternoon toward East Central High School. They were joined by a group of American Indians, as well as those attending a counter-demonstration opposing illegal immigration.

“Our hope is that this bill will be vetoed,” the Rev. Victor Orta, president of the American Dream Coalition, said of House Bill 1804. “We would be sending a very negative signal to the whole world that Oklahoma is anti-immigrant by the mere fact that this bill is the harshest anti-immigration bill in the whole United States.”

States' rebellion at Real ID echoes in Congress

Two states leading a revolt against the Real ID Act have picked up new firepower in the U.S. Senate in their fight to roll back an unprecedented federal overhaul of state driver's licenses.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is now spearheading an effort in Congress to undo the 2005 law that will require states to verify the identity of all 245 million licensed drivers and impose a common set of security features on license cards. Leahy, who can use his post to push legislation to the Democratic-controlled Senate, has signed on to a bill to repeal the Real ID law and revive a previous state-federal partnership effort to make driver’s licenses more secure. A bill in the U.S. House, also now in Democratic hands since the 2006 election, has attracted the support of 25 co-sponsors.

Katrina Hit Blacks Harder Than Whites, Study Finds

NEW ORLEANS, May 9 -- The catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina has cost countless people here their homes, their jobs or their health. But according to a survey being released Thursday regarding daily life in the flood-ravaged city, the burden has fallen far heavier on blacks than on whites.

The proportion of black respondents who described their lives as "disrupted" more than a year after the storm (59 percent) was about double that of whites who said the same (29 percent).

The racial disparities ran across job experiences, housing and health. Researchers said the differences persist even when comparing blacks and whites who have similar incomes.

"Whites were hit hard, too, but blacks were disproportionately living in the areas that were most flooded," said Mollyann Brodie, vice president of public opinion and media research for the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the survey. "And even before Katrina hit, there were gaps between blacks and whites."

Four Officials Profited From Publishers, Report Finds

Four officials who helped oversee a federal reading program for young students have pocketed significant sums of money from textbook publishers that profited from the $1 billion-a-year initiative, a Democratic congressional report disclosed yesterday.

The report from the office of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) offers fresh details on the extensive financial ties between publishers and officials who helped implement the Reading First program. Over the past several months, the program has faced numerous allegations of conflicts of interest and cronyism.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is expected to face questions about the program, a key provision of the No Child Left Behind law, from a House oversight committee today. David Dunn, her chief of staff, said the department is reviewing the report's findings.

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