Etc., etc., etc. …...

Coming in future issues…..

Progress Report on Fontenelle Trees

Nebraska Byways:
Stories about
Nebraskans

WESTERN ARCTIC
GETS REPRIEVE

NRDC and our partners have scored a major courtroom victory for Arctic wildlife. In late September, a federal judge blocked the Bush administration from proceeding with oil and gas development in more than 1 million acres in the Western Arctic Reserve, including a pristine nesting area for migratory birds and the calving grounds for the Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd.

The court ruled that the Interior Department failed to consider the cumulative environmental impacts of oil and gas drilling on this sensitive ecosystem. In tandem with our courtroom campaign, BioGems Defenders have sent more than 100,000 messages urging the Bush administration and Congress to uphold protections for important habitat areas within the reserve.

COURT UPHOLDS STRICT LIMITS ON DEADLY SONAR

A federal appeals court has rejected the Bush administration's attempt to turn back a landmark NRDC courtroom win that limits the peacetime deployment of a powerful low-frequency active sonar system. According to the Navy's own studies, the LFA sonar system generates noise so intense that dangerous levels of sound travel more than 300 miles -- posing a deadly threat to whole populations of whales and other marine mammals that depend on their hearing to survive.

Three years ago, a lower federal court sided with NRDC and our partners and ruled that the Navy's plan to deploy this powerful new sonar system across 75 percent of the world's oceans violated a host of federal laws. In the wake of the appeal court's decision, the Navy must continue to adhere to an agreement with NRDC, which limits LFA testing and training to an area in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

More WPA stories about Nebraska by Nebraskans

Al Gore's documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth" received two nominations for Academy Awards including one for Best Documentary….. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is the current leader in the Iowa primary for the Democratic nomination….. 2004 standard bearer John Kerry will not seek his party's nomination in 2008, instead running for re-election to the Senate from MA….there is an orchestrated drive to urge the Republican leadership to filibuster any critical resolution in the Senate concerning the war in Iraq and that's not all, more than 6,400 people have agreed to a proposal on the internet  that would deny campaign contributions to any Republican senator defying the president's plan….Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday evening that she would soon propose a plan "about how we get to universal coverage." A Clinton spokesman, asked for details last night, would only say, "stay tuned," followed by a smiley face emoticon. Mrs. Clinton said she wanted to "tackle problems of coverage" so everyone is insured for health care; has access to quality care; and can afford the insurance….Democratic consultant Jim Carville believes former Vice President Al Gore will eventually jump into the 2008 White House race. "He's going to run, and he's going to be formidable. If he didn't run, I'd be shocked," he told Rolling Stone ... The Illinois Green Party is now an officially recognized party in the eyes of the state officials, meaning the party now has automatic ballot status for all races in the state. They owe this new status to the 2005 gubernatorial candidacy of attorney Rich Whitney, who finished with 10% ... Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor and '06 US Senate nominee Michael Steele (R) is the new head of GOPAC, the Republican PAC the gained prominence under Newt Gingrich's leadership in the 1980s. Also, former Congressman and '06 US Senate nominee

Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) was officially named the new leader of the DLC ... US Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) has kept an unusual promise he made on the campaign trail. As promised, Tester posts his complete daily schedules into an online archive on his Senate website so constituents will know of everyone he meets with. The schedule even has his personal information like dinners with the family and workout time in the Senate gym. He even listed a hallway "hello" he had with a group of beer industry lobbyists. …. Rumor has it retired general Wes Clark will announce the formation of a presidential exploratory committee before mid February….Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling shot down rumors of him running against Sen. John Kerry in 2008. Instead he said he will concentrate on a contract extension….Who are Karl Krueger (D), Hugh Cort (R), Millie Howard (R), Sal Mohamed (D), Michael Smith (R), and Dan Francis (D)? They are among the many little-known but announced Presidential hopefuls who have already filed with the FEC to run in 2008. …...

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson: Phone: (202) 224-6551  Fax: (202) 228-001240, Suite 5 Dirksen Basement (Temp)
Washington, DC 20510
senator@bennelson.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel: Phone: (202) 224-4224  Fax: (202) 224-5213
346 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
chuck_hagel@hagel.senate.gov
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry: Phone: (202) 225-4806, Fax (202) 225-5686   1517 Longworth House Office Bldg. Washington,DC 20515
Rep. Lee Terry:Phone: (202) 225-4155  Fax: (202) 226-5452  1513 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
talk2lee@mail.house.gov
Rep. Tom Osborne:Phone: (202) 225-6435  Fax: (202) 236-1385
507 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

SEC. B, p2
Senate Moments

SEC. B, p3
HISTORY
SCRAMBLE