TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2011 OPINION House opening doors for Senate PAGE 8A
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Oil prices rise on Egypt unrest NEW YORK (AP) — A key global oil price contract topped $100 per barrel on Monday for the first time since 2008, as investors kept an anxious eye on Egypt and worried about unrest there disrupting the flow of oil from the Middle East. While Egypt is not a major oil-producing country, each day about two million barrels of oil pass through the Suez Canal and an adjacent pipeline, both of which are controlled by Egypt. The Suez remains open and shipping has not been interrupted. “Those watching it closely do not believe it is terribly likely to happen soon or at all, but recognize the possibility that it could occur,” energy consultant Cameron Hanover said.
Judge rules on reform Says health care overhaul law is unconstitutional By MELISSA NELSON and RICARDO ALONSOZALDIVAR Associated Press
those who cannot show they are covered by an employer, government program or their own policy will face fines from the IRS. Opponents say a federal requirement that individuals obtain a specific service — a costly one in the case of health insurance — is unprecedented and oversteps the authority the Constitution gives Congress to regulate interstate commerce. Vinson agreed that lawmakers lack the power to penalize citizens for not doing something. He compared the provision to requiring people to eat healthful food. “Congress could require that people buy and consume broccoli at regular intervals,” he wrote, “Not only because the required purchases will positively impact interstate commerce, but also because people who eat healthier tend to be healthier and are thus more productive and put less of a strain on the health care system.” Defenders of the law said that analogy was flawed. Insurance can’t work if people are allowed to opt out until they need medical attention. Premiums collected from many who are healthy pay the cost of care for those who get sick. Since the uninsured can get treated in the emergency room, deciding not to get coverage has consequences for other people who act prudently do buy coverage. States that had joined the lawsuit were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
CHICAGO (AP) — Gov. Pat Quinn, saying it was a “day of history,” signed legislation Monday legalizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, making Illinois one of about a dozen states that extend significant legal protections to same-sex couples. About 1,000 people crowded into the Chicago Cultural Center to watch Quinn, a Democrat, sign the measure that supporters call a matter of basic fairness and opponents decry as a threat to the sanctity of traditional marriage. “We believe in civil rights and we believe in civil unions,” Quinn said before signing the bill to a roar of cheers and applause. The law, which takes effect June 1, gives gay and lesbian couples official recognition from the state and many of the rights that accompany traditional marriage, including the power to decide medical treatment for an ailing partner and the right to inherit a partner’s property.
100 dogs killed after business slows
Bar manager: Man vowed mosque blast
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — An organization that fights animal abuse is calling the slaughter of 100 sled dogs by an outdoor adventure company in British Columbia a bloodbath and police are investigating. The British Columbia SPCA’s manager of animal cruelty investigations said Monday an Outdoor Adventures Whistler employee was told to cull the dogs. Marcie Moriarty says some dogs were shot, while others’ throats were slit before their bodies were pitched into a mass grave. Vancouver radio station CKNW radio is reporting that the company expected more sledding business in an anticipated post-Olympics tourism boom. But the boom never materialized and the sled dogs were killed last April.
Whitman spends $178.5M on race SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — New campaign finance reports show Jerry Brown spent about $36.5 million in his successful bid to become governor of California, a fraction of the $178.5 million spent by his Republican opponent, billionaire Meg Whitman. In reports filed Monday with the secretary of state’s office, Brown’s campaign reported spending $29 million on TV and radio ads placed by a Georgia-based Democratic advertising firm. Whitman, the former eBay chief executive, shows she tapped $144 million from her personal fortune and raised the rest from donors.
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PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida ruled Monday that President Barack Obama’s entire health care overhaul law is unconstitutional, placing even noncontroversial provisions under a cloud in a broad challenge that seems certain to be resolved only by the Supreme Court. Faced with a major legal setback, the White House called the ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson — in a challenge to the law by 26 of the nation’s 50 states — “a plain case of judicial overreaching.” That echoed language the judge had used to describe the law as an example of Congress overstepping its authority. The Florida judge’s ruling produced an even split in federal court decisions so far on the health care law, mirroring enduring divisions among the public. Two judges had previously upheld the law, both Democratic appointees. A Republican appointee in Virginia had ruled against it. The Justice Department quickly announced it would appeal, and administration officials declared that for now the federal government and the states would proceed without interruption to carry out the law. It seemed evident that only the U.S. Supreme Court could deliver a final verdict on Obama’s historic expansion of health insurance coverage. On Capitol Hill, Republican opponents of the law pledged to redouble pressure for a repeal vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate following House action last month. Nearly all of the states that brought suit in in Vinson’s
Illinois gov. signs civil unions law
IN
Associated Press
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson declared the Obama administration’s health care overhaul unconstitutional on Monday. court have GOP attorneys general or governors. Vinson ruled against the overhaul on grounds that Congress exceeded its authority by requiring nearly all Americans to carry health insurance, an idea dating back to Republican proposals from the 1990s but now almost universally rejected by conservatives. His ruling followed the same general reasoning as one last year from the federal judge in Virginia. But where the first judge’s ruling would
By JEFF KAROUB Associated Press DETROIT — Hours before his arrest outside a popular Detroit-area mosque, a 63-year-old California man held court at a nearby sports bar, telling an employee that he was a Vietnam veteran-turned Muslim holy warrior, that he planned to set off a “big explosion,” and that he was “going to be part of making history,” the employees said Monday. Joe Nahhas, an operations manager at the J.S. Fields bar in Detroit, told The Associated Press that a man identified after his arrest as Roger Stockham ordered a double-Scotch on the rocks on Jan. 24 and told
Associated Press
Roger Stockham is shown in a police booking photo. him he planned to cause an explosion that would be “here, there, the mosque.” Stockham — who is bipolar and suffers from other psychiatric disorders, accord-
strike down the insurance requirement and leave the rest of the law in place, Vinson took it much farther, invalidating provisions that range from Medicare discounts for seniors with high prescription costs to a change that allows adult children up to age 26 to remain on their parents’ coverage. The central issue remains the constitutionality of the law’s core requirement that Americans carry health insurance except in cases of financial hardship. Starting in 2014,
ing to an attorney who represented him in a previous case — was wearing a Vietnam War veteran hat and said he is a Muslim and a member of an Indonesian mujahedeen group, Nahhas said. Nahhas said he called 911 to report the incident, and police have said a tip preceded Stockham’s arrest near the Islamic Center of America in neighboring Dearborn a few hours later. Police said when officers pulled over Stockham’s car, he was wearing a ski mask and traveling with open alcohol containers, spray paint and more than two dozen powerful fireworks, including M-80s, which are illegal in Michigan. “He stated over and over
there’s going to be a big explosion in the city tonight,” said Nahhas, whose bar is down the street from the mosque, one of the largest in North America. “My honest belief is he was having a celebration before hurting people.” Stockham was arraigned Wednesday on one count of making a false report or threat of terrorism and one count of possessing explosives with an unlawful intent. He remained jailed Monday on a $500,000 bond. A preliminary examination is scheduled for Friday. Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad said Sunday that authorities believe Stockham was acting alone and that they take him “very seriously.”
VOLUME 137, NUMBER 32 ISSN 0745-1091. Published daily. ABOUT US Established in 1873, the Bismarck Tribune is the official newspaper of the state of North Dakota, county of Burleigh and city of Bismarck. Published daily at 707 E. Front Ave., Bismarck, ND 58504. Periodicals postage paid at the Bismarck Post Office. Member of the Associated Press. SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Delivery deadlines for the Bismarck Tribune are 6 a.m. Monday-Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday. If you have not received your Tribune by this deadline, redeliveries are available in Bismarck-Mandan until 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and until 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday by calling 250-8210. When going on vacation, please call 250-8210 or 877-590-6397 to have your paper saved in a vacation pack or donated to the Newspaper in Education program. TO SUBSCRIBE Call Customer Service at 250-8210 or 877-590-6397 from 4:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 4:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. We can also be reached online at www.bismarcktribune.com. LET US HELP Call the Tribune 24 hours a day at 223-2500. Office hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Information . . . . . . . . . . 223-2500 Retail advertising fax . . . 224-1412 Classified fax . . . . . . . . . 250-0195 Circulation . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8210 News fax . . . . . . . . . . . . 223-2063 Business fax. . . . . . . . . . 223-4240 Toll free . . . . . . . . . 800-472-2273 E-mail, News@bismarcktribune.com or Online@bismarcktribune.com SHARE YOUR NEWS News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8247 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8243 Hometown . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8242 Capitol Bureau. . . . . . . . 223-8242 BILLING QUESTIONS For billing concerns with retail and classified ads, call 223-2500, extension 312 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. PLACING AN AD To place an ad, please phone the appropriate number from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday: Classified, 258-6900 or 866-476-5348; Display, 250-8290. MANAGEMENT Brian Kroshus, publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8299 Terry Alveshere, online manager . . . . . . . . . . . . 255-2127, ext. 231 Ken Bohl, circulation manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8203 Ron Garcia, production manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355-8801 Stace Gooding, systems administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355-8800 John Irby, editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8266 Chad Kourajian, human resources manager . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8272 Stacey Lang, marketing manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8201 Libby Simes, financial services manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8202 Kristin Wilson, advertising director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250-8285 POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Bismarck Tribune P.O. Box 5516 Bismarck, ND 58506-5516 CORRECTIONS If you spot an error that significantly changes the meaning of any Tribune news story, call the city editor at 250-8247.
Remains in ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ being matched By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press SALEM, Ore. — Oregon’s state mental hospital is trying to match surviving relatives with 3,500 people whose cremated remains were once stacked away in a storage area dubbed the “room of forgotten souls.” The Oregon State Hospital on Friday published online the names, birthdays and dates of death for the former patients and prison inmates, who died between 1914 and the 1970s. The remains were discovered in 2004 in corroding copper canisters. Some of them had fused together after years of neglect. The decrepit, 128-year-old hospital was the filming site for the 1975 Hollywood movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” starring Jack Nicholson, which drew national attention to the
treatment of patients in some psychiatric hospitals. Nearly 30 years later, a group of lawmakers stumbled upon the remains while touring the hospital and vowed to improve mental health treatment. Their discovery was a catalyst for the approval of a new state mental hospital and a boost in staffing. “Already these remains have done so much to bring us so far in such a short time in how we deal with mental health,” said Senate President Peter Courtney, who pressed for changes at the hospital after discovering the remains on the tour for lawmakers. Officials were able to identify all but four canisters of remains. Relatives have claimed those belonging to 120 people since Courtney and other lawmakers first drew attention to the cans seven years ago. Lawmakers made it possible to pub-
lish the names with a new state law exempting the listing from medical privacy laws. Family members can take custody of the remains if they prove they’re related by blood or adoption. The first patients moved into Oregon’s new 620-bed mental institution this month, leaving behind a crumbling hospital that had toxic paint, asbestos and a leaky roof. Forty percent of it was unusable, left to collect pigeon droppings and piles of antique medical equipment. The old building was designed around outdated theories of mental health treatment. The hospital was harshly criticized in 2008 for poor management practices after federal investigators found mice in rooms, deaths from pneumonia and outbreaks of scabies, along with nearly 400 cases of patient-against-patient assault during one year.
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