Lost Lake Tribune May 17th
ELLSWORTH IS NOMINATED FOR U. S. SENATE IN INDIANA
The Democratic State Central Committee today nominated U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth as the party's candidate for Senate. Ellsworth, 51, Evansville, will run against Republican Dan Coats for the seat currently held by two term Senator Evan Bayh, who isn't seeking re-election. The nomination took place at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown in the Indiana Roof Ballroom.
Ellsworth has represented Indiana’s 8th Congressional District since 2007. He serves on the House Agriculture, Armed Services and Small Business Committees. He also is a former two-term Vanderburgh County sheriff.
Infromation copied from: http://www.indystar.com/article/20100515/NEWS05/100515007/It-s-official-Dems-nominate-Ellsworth
Legislators back to work, no budget deal in sight
Legislators returned to the State Capitol Saturday, as pressure to fix the state's $3 billion deficit continues to ramp up.
DFL legislators warned Friday that failing to fix the problem could hinder the state's ability to borrow money, while Republican legislators said the Democrats' plan goes too far toward embracing the controversial federal health overhaul enacted this spring.
Legislative budget negotiators spent much of the day locked in closed-door negotiations with Gov. Tim Pawlenty's administration. Meanwhile, other legislators worked to resolve a key health care proposal, favored by DFLers, that could become a crucial bargaining chip in breaking the deadlock.
With a midnight Sunday deadline for bill passage, legislative leaders still face the giant task of taming the bedeviling deficit, approving a health care overhaul for the poor and perhaps resuscitating a few other major initiatives still mired in committee meetings, such as education and tax reform.
The legislative session has largely come down to this: The governor wants his budget fix, which includes no tax hikes and a delayed payment of $1.7 billion for K-12 schools. DFLers want a way to repay that shift and a health care program that would ensure coverage for the state's poorest residents by switching them to Medicaid. Pawlenty has balked at the idea, largely because of the accompanying proposed surcharges on hospitals and health insurance plans.
House Majority Leader Tony Sertich said negotiations "took a step back" after a late-night conference call with the governor, largely over the issue of health care. He said the governor told them that his support hinges on whether they satisfy the concerns of legislative Republicans, who have been steady critics of the health care bill. "I fear he may use that as an excuse to bring us into special session," said Sertich, DFL-Chisholm.
Senate Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, described the talks as a "hiccup" in negotiations, but that he remained optimistic.
Brian McClung, the governor's deputy chief of staff, said the governor reviewed the DFL health care proposal and doesn't like it. Along with his concerns about costs, "it's a partisan proposal and the DFL failed to gain any significant Republican support," McClung said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Richard Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, said Pawlenty's negotiators proposed Friday that they merge the budget talks with the health care discussions. Cohen and the other lead DFLers preferred to keep the discussions separate. He did, however, say that DFLers told the governor's staff that they have ended their bid for a tax increase, which Cohen described as a significant concession. "Now we expect something of significance from them," he said. "That's normally how it works."
DFLers, who have so far rejected Pawlenty's budget solutions, said that the failure to reach a budget agreement could create so much financial uncertainty that the state might not be able to sell bonds in August to pay for statewide construction projects.
Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, blamed Pawlenty's stubborn refusal to consider a blend of cuts and tax increases to balance the budget. He also criticized Republican legislators for going along with it. He warned it would be a further hardship to the struggling construction industry if the state can't honor its commitment to build hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of projects.
McClung said the state's financial hardship highlights the need to break the budget deadlock. Without a deal, "it's unlikely the state would seek to sell bonds this summer," he said. "It's another reason why it's important for the Legislature to work with us to balance the budget."
One of the nation's top rating agencies, Standard & Poor's, continued its top "AAA" credit rating for Minnesota back in March, and predicted a stable outlook for the state. In a closer look at Minnesota's finances last October, the agency said the rating was based on the state's "deep and diverse economy," strong fiscal management and low-debt levels with rapid repayment schedules.
However, that snapshot of the state's financial health came prior to a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling last week against earlier Pawlenty cuts. The court's ruling sent the deficit soaring to $3 billion, up from $536 million.
There's a lot at stake for Minnesotans in this budget battle that will last far beyond Pawlenty and many of the legislators he is quarreling with. If the recent financial turmoil prompts rating agencies to lower the state's credit score, it could be socked with years of increased interest payments whenever it borrows money for building projects. Worse yet, even if the state settles this budget mess, legislators will come back to St. Paul next year facing what is expected to be another multibillion-dollar deficit.
Information gained from: http://www.startribune.com/local/93846804.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU1yDEmP:QMDCinchO7DU
PM defends crackdown on protesters as vital for Thailand, where bodies lie in capital streets
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's leader defended the deadly army crackdown on protesters besieging the capital's heart, saying Saturday the country's very future was at stake. Protesters dragged away t...
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's leader defended the deadly army crackdown on protesters besieging the capital's heart, saying Saturday the country's very future was at stake. Protesters dragged away the bodies of three people from sidewalks — shot by army snipers, they claim — as soldiers blocked major roads and pinned notices of a "Live Firing Zone."
"I insist that what we are doing is necessary," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a defiant broadcast on national television, making it clear he would not compromise. "The government must move forward. We cannot retreat because we are doing things that will benefit the entire country."
On Saturday, the protesters launched a steady stream of rudimentary missiles at troops who fired back with live ammunition in several areas around a key commercial district of Bangkok.
Army snipers were perched with high-powered rifles atop tall buildings, viewing the action below through telescopic scopes. Thick black smoke billowed from tires set ablaze by demonstrators as gunfire rang out.
The spiraling violence has raised concerns of sustained, widespread chaos in Thailand — a key U.S. ally and Southeast Asia's most popular tourist destination that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles."
"The situation right now is getting close to a civil war each minute," Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader, told reporters. "Please don't ask us how we are going to end this situation, because we are the ones being killed."
Since Thursday, the once-bustling commercial and shopping district has become a war zone with Red Shirt protesters firing weapons, throwing homemade explosives, and hurling rocks at troops firing live ammunition and rubber bullets.
The violence ignited after the army started forming a cordon around the protesters' encampment and a sniper shot and gravely wounded a rogue general reputed to be the Red Shirts' military adviser.
At least 22 people have been killed and more than 194 wounded since Thursday. Previous violence since the protest began in mid-March caused 29 deaths and injured 1,640.
This is the most prolonged and deadliest bout of political violence that Thailand has faced in decades despite having a history of coups — 18 since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
The protesters have occupied a tire-and-bamboo-spike barricaded, 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) zone in one of the capital's ritziest areas, Rajprasong, for about two months to push their demands for Abhisit to resign immediately, dissolve Parliament and call new elections.
The crisis had appeared to be near a resolution last week when Abhisit offered to hold elections in November, a year early. But the hopes were dashed after Red Shirt leaders made more demands.
The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia's second largest.
Abhisit, in his first comments since Thursday, said the protesters have "held the people of Bangkok hostage" and described them as "armed terrorists" who attacked security forces. "Officers on duty have the right to defend themselves," he said.
The Red Shirts, drawn mostly from the rural and urban poor, say Abhisit's coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it symbolizes a national elite indifferent to the poor.
The fighting is taking place in the no man's land between the encampment and the army cordon, a normally-bustling area with hotels, businesses, embassies, shopping malls and apartments. Most of them are now shut and public transport is off the roads.
The army said its cordon has been effective, and the number of protesters at the encampment has dwindled by half. Water and power also were cut off to the area Thursday.
About 5,000 hard-core demonstrators held their ground under threat of military operations to oust them, down from about 10,000 days earlier, army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.
"If the protesters will not end the situation, we will have to enter the encampment," Sansern said.
The army says it is not shooting to kill, but protesters crawled along sidewalks to slowly drag away corpses of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle in the Ratchaprarop area. Demonstrators accused army snipers of shooting all three in the head.
On Saturday, soldiers unrolled razor wire across roads leading to Ratchaprarop — a commercial district north of the main protest site — area and pinned Thai and English-language notices saying "Live Firing Zone" and "Restricted Area. No Entry."
Ratchaprarop houses high-rise buildings, posh hotels and designer shops. It was the scene of some of the worst fighting Friday night between troops and anti-government protesters.
Amid the violence, the rest of the capital has remained largely normal with shops, restaurants and cinemas open and busy, albeit with customers and workers expressing concern about the clashes. Rural Thailand also has not seen violence, though demonstrations and other activity has occurred in the rural home provinces of many people in the Red Shirt movement.
The Red Shirts especially despise the military, which had forced Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist premier favored by the Red Shirts, from office in a 2006 coup. Two subsequent pro-Thaksin governments were disbanded by court rulings before Abhisit became prime minister.
"The reality is that this conflict also draws heavily on the frustrated political aspirations of a large numbers of rural voters," said Andrew Walker, a political scientist at The Australian National University. "If election results are going to be overturned, people's political aspirations and frustrations will find expression in other forms," he said.
Defense Ministry spokesman Tarit Pengdit said 27 protesters have been sentenced to six months' jail for joining an illegal protest. He did not elaborate.
The U.S. Embassy said it will evacuate family members of its staff who want to leave Bangkok.
Information Gained from http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/15/new-clashes-central-bangkok-troops-anti-government-protesters-face/
"Praise the Lord! No More Leaks!"
Since 2006, Bible Baptist Church of Neillsville, WI has been garnering money in order to raise the roof. Let me rephrase that; Bible Baptist has been raising money in order to afford a new roof. At the beginning of this year we had raised enough money to get started on the project. We were able to purchase the materials and set up the dates for the work to be done. We also secured the Nehemiah Team from Northland International University to help us with the project. The project dates were set for April 14-17, 2010. We went with a tin, forest green roof to match the church's green trim. We began by nailing down 1x4 boards on top of the shingles. That step took 3 days to finish, so that by Friday afternoon we were ready for the tin. The Nehemiah Team arrived on Friday night and got to work on the tin along with 12 other men on the ground and on the roof. The tin was screwed into the boards and ridgecaps completed the peaks. By Saturday night almost all of the tin was finished except the valleys and trim. The next week from Monday to Friday 3 to 5 men worked on the finishing touches. It was completely done by Friday, April 23, 2010. Throughout the project prepared meals and drinks were provided by the attendees of the church. It took a lot of hard work and sore thumbs, but we finally got it done!
Aaron Fugate's perspective: It is a remarkably different atmosphere as one transitions from nailing boards to screwing sheets of tin. It is unfathomably more difficult to walk on the metal than on the shingles and wood. There is also the certain thrill of being at the highest point of the building. If you're scared of heights, it may be initially unnerving, but one may become accustomed to it after a while. However, it is unadvisable to become too comfortable being on the roof and cease to be careful in one's ambulatory processes. - Aaron M. Fugate, The One and Only.
Lindsae Dockum's perspective: As a newcomer to Bible Baptist, I got to witness a beautiful process for the church. I got to see Christians coming together and helping one another; whether it was putting on the new roof or preparing the food. I also got to experience the fellowship that came along with it. I am blessed with having this new experience and also a family in Christ.
Rachel Fugate's perspective: I was thankful that I was able to experience both aspects of the roof work. I was in charge of the food preparation, so I was able to help in the kitchen and make sure that the food was ready for the workers. I was also able to get up on the roof on Thursday and hammer in some nails. That was a very interesting and neat experience. I also enjoyed taking pictures and getting to know some of the workers and seeing the project through from beginning to end. Overall, I am thankful it is done, but I appreciated the process of getting it done.
The Democratic State Central Committee today nominated U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth as the party's candidate for Senate. Ellsworth, 51, Evansville, will run against Republican Dan Coats for the seat currently held by two term Senator Evan Bayh, who isn't seeking re-election. The nomination took place at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown in the Indiana Roof Ballroom.
Ellsworth has represented Indiana’s 8th Congressional District since 2007. He serves on the House Agriculture, Armed Services and Small Business Committees. He also is a former two-term Vanderburgh County sheriff.
Infromation copied from: http://www.indystar.com/article/20100515/NEWS05/100515007/It-s-official-Dems-nominate-Ellsworth
Legislators back to work, no budget deal in sight
Legislators returned to the State Capitol Saturday, as pressure to fix the state's $3 billion deficit continues to ramp up.
DFL legislators warned Friday that failing to fix the problem could hinder the state's ability to borrow money, while Republican legislators said the Democrats' plan goes too far toward embracing the controversial federal health overhaul enacted this spring.
Legislative budget negotiators spent much of the day locked in closed-door negotiations with Gov. Tim Pawlenty's administration. Meanwhile, other legislators worked to resolve a key health care proposal, favored by DFLers, that could become a crucial bargaining chip in breaking the deadlock.
With a midnight Sunday deadline for bill passage, legislative leaders still face the giant task of taming the bedeviling deficit, approving a health care overhaul for the poor and perhaps resuscitating a few other major initiatives still mired in committee meetings, such as education and tax reform.
The legislative session has largely come down to this: The governor wants his budget fix, which includes no tax hikes and a delayed payment of $1.7 billion for K-12 schools. DFLers want a way to repay that shift and a health care program that would ensure coverage for the state's poorest residents by switching them to Medicaid. Pawlenty has balked at the idea, largely because of the accompanying proposed surcharges on hospitals and health insurance plans.
House Majority Leader Tony Sertich said negotiations "took a step back" after a late-night conference call with the governor, largely over the issue of health care. He said the governor told them that his support hinges on whether they satisfy the concerns of legislative Republicans, who have been steady critics of the health care bill. "I fear he may use that as an excuse to bring us into special session," said Sertich, DFL-Chisholm.
Senate Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, described the talks as a "hiccup" in negotiations, but that he remained optimistic.
Brian McClung, the governor's deputy chief of staff, said the governor reviewed the DFL health care proposal and doesn't like it. Along with his concerns about costs, "it's a partisan proposal and the DFL failed to gain any significant Republican support," McClung said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Richard Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, said Pawlenty's negotiators proposed Friday that they merge the budget talks with the health care discussions. Cohen and the other lead DFLers preferred to keep the discussions separate. He did, however, say that DFLers told the governor's staff that they have ended their bid for a tax increase, which Cohen described as a significant concession. "Now we expect something of significance from them," he said. "That's normally how it works."
DFLers, who have so far rejected Pawlenty's budget solutions, said that the failure to reach a budget agreement could create so much financial uncertainty that the state might not be able to sell bonds in August to pay for statewide construction projects.
Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, blamed Pawlenty's stubborn refusal to consider a blend of cuts and tax increases to balance the budget. He also criticized Republican legislators for going along with it. He warned it would be a further hardship to the struggling construction industry if the state can't honor its commitment to build hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of projects.
McClung said the state's financial hardship highlights the need to break the budget deadlock. Without a deal, "it's unlikely the state would seek to sell bonds this summer," he said. "It's another reason why it's important for the Legislature to work with us to balance the budget."
One of the nation's top rating agencies, Standard & Poor's, continued its top "AAA" credit rating for Minnesota back in March, and predicted a stable outlook for the state. In a closer look at Minnesota's finances last October, the agency said the rating was based on the state's "deep and diverse economy," strong fiscal management and low-debt levels with rapid repayment schedules.
However, that snapshot of the state's financial health came prior to a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling last week against earlier Pawlenty cuts. The court's ruling sent the deficit soaring to $3 billion, up from $536 million.
There's a lot at stake for Minnesotans in this budget battle that will last far beyond Pawlenty and many of the legislators he is quarreling with. If the recent financial turmoil prompts rating agencies to lower the state's credit score, it could be socked with years of increased interest payments whenever it borrows money for building projects. Worse yet, even if the state settles this budget mess, legislators will come back to St. Paul next year facing what is expected to be another multibillion-dollar deficit.
Information gained from: http://www.startribune.com/local/93846804.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU1yDEmP:QMDCinchO7DU
PM defends crackdown on protesters as vital for Thailand, where bodies lie in capital streets
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's leader defended the deadly army crackdown on protesters besieging the capital's heart, saying Saturday the country's very future was at stake. Protesters dragged away t...
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's leader defended the deadly army crackdown on protesters besieging the capital's heart, saying Saturday the country's very future was at stake. Protesters dragged away the bodies of three people from sidewalks — shot by army snipers, they claim — as soldiers blocked major roads and pinned notices of a "Live Firing Zone."
"I insist that what we are doing is necessary," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a defiant broadcast on national television, making it clear he would not compromise. "The government must move forward. We cannot retreat because we are doing things that will benefit the entire country."
On Saturday, the protesters launched a steady stream of rudimentary missiles at troops who fired back with live ammunition in several areas around a key commercial district of Bangkok.
Army snipers were perched with high-powered rifles atop tall buildings, viewing the action below through telescopic scopes. Thick black smoke billowed from tires set ablaze by demonstrators as gunfire rang out.
The spiraling violence has raised concerns of sustained, widespread chaos in Thailand — a key U.S. ally and Southeast Asia's most popular tourist destination that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles."
"The situation right now is getting close to a civil war each minute," Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader, told reporters. "Please don't ask us how we are going to end this situation, because we are the ones being killed."
Since Thursday, the once-bustling commercial and shopping district has become a war zone with Red Shirt protesters firing weapons, throwing homemade explosives, and hurling rocks at troops firing live ammunition and rubber bullets.
The violence ignited after the army started forming a cordon around the protesters' encampment and a sniper shot and gravely wounded a rogue general reputed to be the Red Shirts' military adviser.
At least 22 people have been killed and more than 194 wounded since Thursday. Previous violence since the protest began in mid-March caused 29 deaths and injured 1,640.
This is the most prolonged and deadliest bout of political violence that Thailand has faced in decades despite having a history of coups — 18 since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
The protesters have occupied a tire-and-bamboo-spike barricaded, 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) zone in one of the capital's ritziest areas, Rajprasong, for about two months to push their demands for Abhisit to resign immediately, dissolve Parliament and call new elections.
The crisis had appeared to be near a resolution last week when Abhisit offered to hold elections in November, a year early. But the hopes were dashed after Red Shirt leaders made more demands.
The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia's second largest.
Abhisit, in his first comments since Thursday, said the protesters have "held the people of Bangkok hostage" and described them as "armed terrorists" who attacked security forces. "Officers on duty have the right to defend themselves," he said.
The Red Shirts, drawn mostly from the rural and urban poor, say Abhisit's coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it symbolizes a national elite indifferent to the poor.
The fighting is taking place in the no man's land between the encampment and the army cordon, a normally-bustling area with hotels, businesses, embassies, shopping malls and apartments. Most of them are now shut and public transport is off the roads.
The army said its cordon has been effective, and the number of protesters at the encampment has dwindled by half. Water and power also were cut off to the area Thursday.
About 5,000 hard-core demonstrators held their ground under threat of military operations to oust them, down from about 10,000 days earlier, army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.
"If the protesters will not end the situation, we will have to enter the encampment," Sansern said.
The army says it is not shooting to kill, but protesters crawled along sidewalks to slowly drag away corpses of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle in the Ratchaprarop area. Demonstrators accused army snipers of shooting all three in the head.
On Saturday, soldiers unrolled razor wire across roads leading to Ratchaprarop — a commercial district north of the main protest site — area and pinned Thai and English-language notices saying "Live Firing Zone" and "Restricted Area. No Entry."
Ratchaprarop houses high-rise buildings, posh hotels and designer shops. It was the scene of some of the worst fighting Friday night between troops and anti-government protesters.
Amid the violence, the rest of the capital has remained largely normal with shops, restaurants and cinemas open and busy, albeit with customers and workers expressing concern about the clashes. Rural Thailand also has not seen violence, though demonstrations and other activity has occurred in the rural home provinces of many people in the Red Shirt movement.
The Red Shirts especially despise the military, which had forced Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist premier favored by the Red Shirts, from office in a 2006 coup. Two subsequent pro-Thaksin governments were disbanded by court rulings before Abhisit became prime minister.
"The reality is that this conflict also draws heavily on the frustrated political aspirations of a large numbers of rural voters," said Andrew Walker, a political scientist at The Australian National University. "If election results are going to be overturned, people's political aspirations and frustrations will find expression in other forms," he said.
Defense Ministry spokesman Tarit Pengdit said 27 protesters have been sentenced to six months' jail for joining an illegal protest. He did not elaborate.
The U.S. Embassy said it will evacuate family members of its staff who want to leave Bangkok.
Information Gained from http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/15/new-clashes-central-bangkok-troops-anti-government-protesters-face/
"Praise the Lord! No More Leaks!"
Since 2006, Bible Baptist Church of Neillsville, WI has been garnering money in order to raise the roof. Let me rephrase that; Bible Baptist has been raising money in order to afford a new roof. At the beginning of this year we had raised enough money to get started on the project. We were able to purchase the materials and set up the dates for the work to be done. We also secured the Nehemiah Team from Northland International University to help us with the project. The project dates were set for April 14-17, 2010. We went with a tin, forest green roof to match the church's green trim. We began by nailing down 1x4 boards on top of the shingles. That step took 3 days to finish, so that by Friday afternoon we were ready for the tin. The Nehemiah Team arrived on Friday night and got to work on the tin along with 12 other men on the ground and on the roof. The tin was screwed into the boards and ridgecaps completed the peaks. By Saturday night almost all of the tin was finished except the valleys and trim. The next week from Monday to Friday 3 to 5 men worked on the finishing touches. It was completely done by Friday, April 23, 2010. Throughout the project prepared meals and drinks were provided by the attendees of the church. It took a lot of hard work and sore thumbs, but we finally got it done!
Aaron Fugate's perspective: It is a remarkably different atmosphere as one transitions from nailing boards to screwing sheets of tin. It is unfathomably more difficult to walk on the metal than on the shingles and wood. There is also the certain thrill of being at the highest point of the building. If you're scared of heights, it may be initially unnerving, but one may become accustomed to it after a while. However, it is unadvisable to become too comfortable being on the roof and cease to be careful in one's ambulatory processes. - Aaron M. Fugate, The One and Only.
Lindsae Dockum's perspective: As a newcomer to Bible Baptist, I got to witness a beautiful process for the church. I got to see Christians coming together and helping one another; whether it was putting on the new roof or preparing the food. I also got to experience the fellowship that came along with it. I am blessed with having this new experience and also a family in Christ.
Rachel Fugate's perspective: I was thankful that I was able to experience both aspects of the roof work. I was in charge of the food preparation, so I was able to help in the kitchen and make sure that the food was ready for the workers. I was also able to get up on the roof on Thursday and hammer in some nails. That was a very interesting and neat experience. I also enjoyed taking pictures and getting to know some of the workers and seeing the project through from beginning to end. Overall, I am thankful it is done, but I appreciated the process of getting it done.
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