Liberty
Matters News Service
August 25, 2004
Kentucky Man Faces Charges For Killing Bear
Terry Brock stepped outside his home the morning of June 2,
to discover a black bear looking for breakfast. He immediately dashed back
inside and told his wife to call the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife
(KDFW) while he tried to scare the animal away. The bear wouldn't scare and
became aggressive, so Brock grabbed his antique 30-30 and killed it. The KDFW
then filed charges against him because it is unlawful to kill a black bear in
Kentucky. If Brock agreed to plead guilty he would avoid a possible jail
sentence, but would have to pay a $250 fine, lose his hunting privileges, and
forfeit his heirloom 30-30. Brock refused the deal, preferring to take his
chances with a jury of his peers, even though he could get a year in jail and a
$1,000 fine if convicted. "I don't feel like I've done anything wrong," Brock
said. It may be the KDFW wants to make an example of Mr. Brock because they
won't drop the charges. "This is our first case," said Frank Campbell, a
conservation officer. "I feel it's a very important case for us." Defense
attorney Jamie Hatton remarked, "It seems like he had a right to protect his
family, his dogs, his horse, from this bear. It's not like he was poaching."
He Killed Bear, Now Defends Self
Tyrannosaurus Tex
It began with a campaign
promise and has now morphed into a colossal behemoth that threatens to swallow
rural Texas. In 2002, Governor Rick Perry promised to build a super highway to
facilitate expected increased traffic from the National Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and only now are the staggering dimensions of the project coming to
light. Tyrannosaurus Tex will have ten vehicle lanes, six rail tracks,
utilities, pipelines, state concessions (gas stations, restaurants, motels,
stores, warehouses, etc.) all on 4,000 miles of toll roads that will consume
more than one-half million acres of Texas. What was supposed to occur over
fifty years has been steered into the fast lane by the Texas legislature's
enabling law HB 3588, which, said Transportation Commissioner Robert L.
Nichols, "gives us all of the authority and all of the power we need on a state
level to move forward on the Trans-Texas Corridor, plus some." Other states,
such as Indiana, that were receptive to the idea of I-69, the original NAFTA
highway, are now having second thoughts, fearing they too could be trampled by
their own super corridor. Critics warn the mammoth undertaking will wreak havoc
with property rights as the State will use the power of eminent domain to seize
property from unwilling sellers.
Website: www.corridorwatch.org
Junk Science
A new study from the Carnegie
Institution's Department of Global Ecology, the Union of Concerned Scientists
and the National Center for Atmospheric Research predicts that by the end of
the century California will become too hot and dry to support its wine and
dairy industries. But experts from the prestigious National Center for Policy
Analysis (NCPA) say its all politics. "The climate models these researchers
rely on have been proven over and over to be entirely unreliable," said NCPA
Adjunct Scholar S. Fred Singer. Singer noted that "[T]hey can't even reliably
predict the present climate, but they know specifically what's going to happen
to California in the future?" Several noted scientific bodies, including the
National Academy of Sciences, have thrown cold water on the notion stating:
"...complicated computer models ... are still not accurate enough to provide
reliable forecasts of…seasonal or even annual changes..." NCPA Senior
Fellow H. Sterling Burnett agreed there is more politics than science involved.
"(O)ne of the lead researchers…is Stephen Schneider, one of the most vocal
alarmists, was once Al Gore's lead science advisor. In the past he has
explicitly called for exaggerating the science and down playing doubts as a way
of getting this done politically..."
To:
National Desk, Environment Reporter
Update on a National Shame
For 16 years, John Rapanos from Michigan has
been fighting the federal government over their claim that he filled a wetland
on his property. Only problem is, there never was a wetland on his 200 acre
field because the county government dug drainage ditches around the plot in
1904. At Rapanos' second sentencing, Federal District Court Judge Lawrence P.
Zatkoff balked at carrying out the government's vendetta and sentenced him to
200 hours community service, three years probation and a $185,000 fine. But the
Justice Department is still not satisfied demanding Judge Zatkoff sentence him
to at least 10 months in prison. To make matters worse, the government wants
civil damages to the tune of $10 million in fines, forfeiture of 81 acres of
land and $3 million in mitigation fees to restore wetlands that never existed.
Rapanos' scheduled August 18 sentencing trial has been postponed, according to
Greg Broderick, attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation because Judge
Zatkoff wants to wait on a ruling in a federal sentencing guidelines case
(Booker) to be heard by the U. S. Supreme Court in October. Hopefully, the
Supreme Court ruling will favorably impact Mr. Rapanos's situation. If not,
this will remain a national disgrace.
How 'Wetlands' Bureaucrats Crush Private
Property Rights