| Courts Reject Alexandria Power Plant Moves
The city of Alexandria got slapped down in two courts yesterday, suffering setbacks in its long-running campaign to shut down the pollution-producing Mirant power plant on the Potomac River. In one case, Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy ruled that Alexandria had improperly used its zoning power to require the power plant to obtain a special-use permit. The city would then have been able to designate the plant as a "non-complying use," which could have forced the plant out of the city. Mirant had sued to block the zoning change. .
UMC faculty reject University's contract offer
Members of the UMC faculty, which unionized in February 2005, soundly rejected a contract offer from the University this week. The contract would have also covered faculty at the Duluth campus, where it was approved this week. But it won't take effect without UMC faculty approval.According to a news release from Education Minnesota that articulates the position of the University Education Association, the University wouldn't drop a demand to give the administration authority to unilaterally change parts of the contract addressing UMC-specific issues at any time, without faculty input. The contract also failed to adquately address other key issues for UMC faculty, such as tenure and workload, Mark Keranen, president of the Crookston UEA, states in the release.Reached this morning, Patti Dion, director of employee relations in the University of Minnesota Office of Human Resources in the Twin Cities, said that the UMC faculty are highly valued by the University, but that, instead of negotiating the contract through the media, the University would prefer to return to the bargaining table.
Judge names mediator for MUW, alumni dispute
COLUMBUS, Miss. A mediator has been named to help resolve the dispute between the Mississippi University for Women's president and the school's alumni association. Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice James L- Roberts Junior has been apppointed to mediate the dispute. The alumni group has asked a judge to stop M-U-W president Claudia Limbert from installing a new alumni association. Yesterday (Wednesday), Lowndes County Chancery Judge Dorothy Colom ordered both sides to meet with Roberts, an attorney who now serves as a municipal judge in Pontotoc, on April 11th. Colom's action follows her decision Monday to continue the National Executive Board of M-U-W-A-A's complaint against Limbert until April 12th, giving the plaintiffs until Friday to amend their complaint and the defendant until April 10th to respond.
Officials say the Salton Sea headed for disaster without a plan ...
The Salton Sea is headed for disaster unless the state can come up with a solid plan and money to save it, officials say. The Salton Sea needs help or the Coachella and Imperial valleys' quality of life will diminish in the short- and long-run. Later this month, California Secretary of Resources Mike Chrisman will announce a formal plan to restore the state's largest lake. The $6 billion plan's expected to include a much smaller lake - there will be less water for it in the future - wildlife habitat and a lot of dry land. The land is expected to worsen air quality problems in the Coachella and Imperial valleys unless the state and other agencies are able to come up with realistic solutions. In advance of a 3-day series on the Salton Sea's future and what happens if nothing is done to help it, The Desert Sun asked the Coachella Valley's four legislators their opinion on several sea-related issues.
Alaska Department of Revenue: A primer on state’s new petroleum ...
Alaskas petroleum basin, with billions of barrels in place, is one of the most promising energy regions in the world. Alaska competes globally for a limited pool of resource development capital. The state has always worked hard to strike a balance between its need for revenues and providing incentives that attract companies with expertise and the latest technology to explore and invest here. Alaskas oil and gas production tax, which remained essentially unchanged since 1989, was replaced last year with the Petroleum Profits Tax. The legislation has incentives for exploration, development and investment in Alaska. Changes include: Taxing the net value of production rather than gross value of production; Small producer tax credits of up to $12 million; Cash flow timing benefits to explorers and investors; Risk sharing by the state through exploration credits and deductions; Incentives for oil with high production costs, such as heavy or viscous oil; Minimal production taxes when energy prices are low; Protecting Cook Inlet taxpayers with a tax ceiling; Offering $6 million per taxpayer in new area development credits; Extending sunset dates of existing oil and gas exploration tax credits; and Options for tradable or reimbursable tax credits.
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