LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We are going to
pursue strategies
that will obligate the Senate to finally
join the House in confronting
the government’s spending problem.” House Speaker John Boehner Article, 1AWisconsin’s curbs
on unions upheld
CHICAGO - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 legislation curbing the collective-bargaining rights of some public unions and not others was upheld in its entirety by a U.S. appeals court panel.
In a 74-page decision issued Friday, in which one of the three judges dissented in part, the Chicago-based court reversed a Madison federal judge’s finding last year that parts of the law were unconstitutional.
The parts of the law, known as Act 10, requiring annual recertification votes and barring the voluntary deduction of dues, don’t violate U.S. constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law and free speech, the appeals court said.
U.S. Circuit Judge David Hamilton wrote the partial dissent. He broke with the majority on its approval of the state’s prohibition of voluntary payroll deductions “for some public employee unions but not others.”
The legislation sparked protests outside the state’s Capitol and a recall election in June, in which Walker defeated Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, his Democratic challenger.
I-65 thawing frees stranded hundreds
CULLMAN, Ala. - A traffic jam that extended at least 8 miles on Interstate 65 in Alabama, forcing hundreds of motorists to camp out in vehicles overnight after a rare Southern snowfall, finally cleared Friday as rising temperatures melted remnants of the freeze.
Hundreds of people spent a cold night trapped on I-65 about 50 miles north of Birmingham after a winter storm dumped snow around the Southeast and caused at least one death in Mississippi.
The motorists got stuck on the interstate in Cullman County after the snow caused a series of wrecks and vehicles lost traction on a hilly stretch called Lacon Mountain.
In Virginia, the areas hardest hit Thursday and Friday were in the southwest, where the National Weather Service says 13 inches were reported in Giles County.
Parts of Mississippi saw 2 to 4 inches of snow on the ground Thursday.
Chicagoan’s body
dug up, examined
CHICAGO - Authorities on Friday exhumed the body of a Chicago man who was poisoned with cyanide after winning the lottery and conducted an autopsy in the hopes that it will help solve the mystery surrounding his death.
Pathologists collected samples of hair, nails and most major body organs, as well as contents of the stomach, Medical Examiner Stephen Cina said.
Urooj Khan, 46, died in July as he was about to collect $425,000 in lottery winnings.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 01/19/2013