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

According to The Politico, US Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) has now hired a criminal defense lawyer to represent him in the ongoing FBI corruption probe as to whether he received illegal gifts in exchange for helping secure financing for specific appropriations projects…..SC State Treasurer Tom Ravenel (R) was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent distribute. According to the indictment, Ravenel and another man possessed cocaine and criminally conspired for the past two years to distribute it within the state. ….Former NH Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) confirmed this week she is considering a run next year against US Senator John Sununu (R). ….Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn is in trouble in Texas. His negatives, according to a new Survey USA poll, now outweigh his positive numbers...Roll Call's Stu Rothenberg reports inroads into Bob Kerrey's refusal to run for the Senate again in Nebraska. Despite his protests, look for Kerrey to likely jump in the contest if Sen. Chuck Hagel decides to  seek re-election…..New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg officially switched party affiliation from Republican to independent, fueling speculation on his running for president as an independent. Bloomberg was formerly a Democrat, switching parties when he was blocked in the Democratic party in a quest to be mayor….President Bush taped his annual Christmas holiday show with ABC at Ford's Theater on June 24…...The Washington Times is reporting Virginia Sen. John Warner will probably not seek re-election next year, opening up a GOP seat for contention…..The London Times speculates Sen. John McCain's presidential run may dry up and blow away by October because of money problems….A few days ago, US Senator Sam Brownback (R) said he's use an abortion litmus test in selecting US Supreme Court justices -- saying

only one more vote was needed to overturn Roe v. Wade. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) agrees abortion should be a litmus test, but from the other side of the issue. "I know that I am going to upset some people. I would say, 'Do you believe Roe v. Wade is settled law?' and if they say, 'Yes,' they have a good chance of being picked. If they say 'No,' I will not pick them," said Richardson in Des Moines…..Roll Call reports former Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman (R), former State Senate President Mike Miller (R), former State Senator John Binkley (R) and State House Speaker John Harris (R) are all "weighing challenging" either US Senator Ted Stevens (R) or Congressman Don Young (R) in next year's primary…..Further update on the potential Shaheen/Sununu match in the Senate race in NH: A new ARG poll shows Shaheen leading the incumbent  Sununu by a 57-29 percentage…..Barak Obama continues to set fundraising records as he raked in another $30 million during the second quarter of the year….

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. Adrian Smith 503 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Phone:(202) 225-6435
Fax:(202) 225-0207

SEC. B, p2
Senate Moments

SEC. B, p3
HISTORY
SCRAMBLE