QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The people know there’s no way anybody could have survived. They just want to have their loved ones, to bury their loved ones.”
Leslie Zylstra of Oso, Wash., where dozens of people were still missing nearly a week after a mudslide hit the community northeast of Seattle Article, this page
Sebelius: Sign-up lag is Texas-made
AUSTIN, Texas - Political opposition in Texas to the federal health-care overhaul hasn’t helped enrollment numbers that lag behind expectations as next week’s deadline to sign up looms, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday.
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents in the nation. As of March 1, about 295,000 people in Texas had signed up for coverage - less than half of the target of 629,000 enrollees originally set by the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“I don’t think it’s been a help when you have government officials trying to block navigators from getting information to the people. And you have everything from legal challenges to a constant barrage of misinformation,” Sebelius said.
Gov. Rick Perry shot back at Sebelius’ remarks, saying that the more people learn about the federal health law, the less they like it.
For now, Texas’ lid on execution drug
HOUSTON - The Texas Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a lower court’s order that the state prison agency must tell attorneys for two death-row inmates the name of the supplier of a new batch of lethal injection drugs.
The decision came shortly after an appeals court upheld a state district judge’s ruling ordering prison officials to disclose the information. The agency had filed an emergency appeal.
Attorneys for the two convicts set to die next month filed a lawsuit in the case. They argued they should have the name of the supplier of pentobarbital that would be used to execute the prisoners.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice wants to keep it secret, citing escalating threats of violence against execution drug providers.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd Texas Court of Appeals earlier in the day upheld a ruling Thursday from state District Court Judge Suzanne Covington, who said the name of the supplier must be disclosed to lawyers for the two inmates.
Ruling on 2 states’ voter laws is fought
WICHITA, Kan. - Voting-rights groups filed an appeal Friday of a judge’s order that federal election officials must help Kansas and Arizona enforce state laws requiring new voters to provide documentation proving their U.S. citizenship.
A court filing sent to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals challenges a ruling earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita. Melgren had ordered the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to immediately modify a national voter-registration form to add special instructions requiring proof of citizenship for Kansas and Arizona residents.
The national president of the League of Women Voters, Elisabeth MacNamara, said the U.S. Supreme Court has already found that the National Voter Registration Act pre-empts state law requiring documentary proof of citizenship.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 03/29/2014