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The Nebraska legislature, meeting in a special session to deal specifically with the Keystone XL pipeline that would cross their state, may be on the verge of passing a bill that could give the governor control over the route that pipeline would take. On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Committee voted 7-1 to send a bill to the full legislature that would require all oil pipeline companies to have the routes of their pipelines certified by a state panel headed by the governor before starting construction.

I’m at the 4th Annual Values Voter Summit, the Focus on the Family-sponsored conference which is incredibly heavy on Republican stars — Pence, Huckabee,

State employees are hoping that a new study that shows the high cost of federal contracts will move the Snyder administration to take a look at how contractors are billing the state of Michigan. “The idea that we are saving money using outside contractors is not backed up by the evidence,” Phil Thompson, executive vice president of SEIU Local 517M, said in a statement. “We need to seriously look at whether our taxpayers are truly getting real value when it comes to the hundreds of millions the state spends on private contracts.” This week the Project on Government Oversight published a report that detailed how the federal government is wasting billions by paying contractors for work that could be done for less by state employees.

A New Mexico district court judge ruled that the Martinez administration can continue its investigation into the residency of foreign nationals holding driver’s licenses, but must show “good cause” for doing so. Judge Sarah Singleton said the state cannot send out more letters to determine the residency of other foreign nationals who have driver’s licenses or follow up as to why some 4,200 did not respond to letters, but may continue investigations when there is “good cause” for fraud. She said that investigating solely on the basis of nationality violated the Equal Protection Clause for citizens and noncitizens alike.

Trevor Griffey digs up a 1971 memo written by Pat Buchanan, then an adviser to President Richard Nixon, arguing that the administration needed to get ready for

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in Florida tomorrow to tour the Winding Waters Wetland Preserve in West Palm Beach and to announce several

A SurveyUSA/KSTP poll released Wednesday evening found that a slim majority of Minnesotans would vote for a ballot initiative that would place a ban on gay marriage in the Minnesota Constitution. According to the poll, 51 percent of registered voters surveyed said they would vote in favor of the amendment, while 40 percent say they’d vote against it. Eight percent said they would not vote either way.

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Yesterday afternoon, the McCain campaign sent out word that Sen. John McCain would hold a press conference at about 8 a.m. this morning at

From yesterday’s Twitter feed of Brad Dayspring, spokesman for the GOP whip’s office: Dayspring doesn’t mis-attribute the study to the New England

Even before tonight’s jobs speech, conservation groups in Colorado and across the Rocky Mountain West says it’s clear President Barack Obama has chosen polluting industry jobs over other employment sectors, demoralizing the environmental base ahead of the 2012 campaign. Last week’s decision by the Obama administration to shelve tougher EPA smog standards , coming hard on the heels of the State Department’s nod to the Keystone XL pipeline , has many mainstream environmentalists wondering if young, green voters will turn out for Obama next year the way they did in 2008. “ a huge mistake politically, and I don’t understand it at all,” Dr.

BOULDER– For years, smack-dab in the middle of the University of Colorado campus, this town has hosted one of the biggest annual 4/20 pro-marijuana smoke-ins in the nation. Yesterday’s installment, coming amid the great legalized medical marijuana transition in this state, produced a kind of smoke signal sent out to the plains and coast dwellers from the top of the country.

The EPA seal (Pic via sentryjournal.com) The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded seven universities in the southeast — one of which is Daytona’s Embry-Riddle — People, Prosperity and the Planet Phase I grants for the 2011-2012 school year. According to a press release, the grants will go toward designing “creative solutions to sustainability challenges in the developed and developing world” and will challenge students “to design and build sustainable technologies that improve quality of life, promote economic development and protect the environment.” Daytona Beach’s Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University was awarded a $12,845 rant to help design a portable solar water purification system for public use during disaster recovery

A new report shows that despite the unusually high national unemployment rate, some specific industries are facing shortages of skilled workers, shortages that

Potential presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty scored a coup yesterday when he announced that he has signed on Nick Ayers to be his campaign manager. Ayers, a deeply religious 28-year old, is the former head of the Republican Governors Association, a group that funneled money into Minnesota’s Future to run negative ads against Mark Dayton during the 2010 gubernatorial election

<p>Mixing politics and the pulpit can be messy business.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Americans United for Separation of Church of

New polling figures out this week from Public Policy Polling aren’t good news for Gov. Terry Branstad . “Republican Governor Terry Branstad remains unpopular with his approval rating falling to 39 percent with 47 percent disapproval, slightly worse than his -4(41/45) rating in April,” writes Michael Sadowsky of PPP , who takes note of Branstad’s 10-point victory margin against Democrat incumbent Chet Culver during the 2010 general election

This week, the Pew’s Economic Mobility Project is up with an astonishing report on the financial damage incarceration does to inmates and the broader economic

In a newly released study of public opinion from the Kaiser Family Foundation about HIV, researchers have found both hope and disappointment in the public’s understanding of HIV and AIDS. The study finds that while the epidemic has been around since 1981, the public’s understanding of how the virus is spread remains poor. Of the respondents in the study, 25 percent thought one could get HIV by sharing a drinking glass with some one with HIV, 45 percent say they’d be uncomfortable having their food prepared by someone who is HIV‐positive, 36 percent with having an HIV‐positive roommate, 29 percent having their child in a classroom with an HIV‐positive teacher, and 18 percent working with someone with HIV

A poll released by the Public Religion Research Institute on Thursday confirmed what several other national pollsters have found: A majority of Americans now