Highway Funding

Missoulian:  Walsh turns to corporate tax breaks to solve highway funding problem
S.2489: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that sufficient funding is made available for the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes.

Risky Teen Behavior/ Protecting Oceans

Missoulian: Teen behavior getting healthier: Young people smoke, drink, fight less, but stare into screens more, study says

Youth RiskBehavior Surveillance—United States, 2013 

“Results from the 2013 national YRBS indicated that many high school students are engaged in priority health-risk behaviors associated with the leading causes of death among persons aged 10–24 years in the United States. During the 30 days before the survey, 41.4% of high school students nationwide among the 64.7% who drove a car or other vehicle during the 30 days before the survey had texted or e-mailed while driving, 34.9% had drunk alcohol, and 23.4% had used marijuana. During the 12 months before the survey, 14.8% had been electronically bullied, 19.6% had been bullied on school property, and 8.0% had attempted suicide. Many high school students nationwide are engaged in sexual risk behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancies and STIs, including HIV infection. Nearly half (46.8%) of students had ever had sexual intercourse, 34.0% had had sexual intercourse during the 3 months before the survey (i.e., currently sexually active), and 15.0% had had sexual intercourse with four or more persons during their life.”

Missoulian: Obama to create world's largest ocean preserve

Leading at Home and Internationally to Protect Our Ocean and Coasts
“This week, the State Department is hosting the “Our Ocean” conference, an international conference on sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and ocean acidification that concludes today. Secretary Kerry has also issued a global call to action to protect the oceans. As part of the conference, the President is announcing several steps that the United States is taking to answer that call. During the closing events of the conference, the State Department will announce additional steps and commitments it has secured to protect our oceans.”
Presidential Memorandum -- Comprehensive Framework to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud

Supreme Court and the 1st Amendment

Missoulian: Court OKs challenge to Ohio ban on campaign lies
Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus
"Respondent Driehaus, a former Congressman, filed a complaint withthe Ohio Elections Commission alleging that petitioner Susan B. Anthony List (SBA) violated an Ohiolaw that criminalizes certain false statements made during the course of a political campaign. Specifically, Driehaus alleged that SBA violated the law when it stated that his vote for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a vote in favor of “taxpayer funded abortion.” After Driehaus lost his re-election bid, the complaint was dismissed, but SBA continued to pursue a separate suit in Federal District Court challenging the law on First Amendment grounds. Petitioner Coalition Opposed."

Missoulian: High court will hear appeal over illegal threats
Anthony Douglas Elonis v. United States
"Whether, consistent with the First Amendment and Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S. 343 (2003), conviction of threatening another person requires proof of the defendant's subjective intent to threaten, as required by the Ninth Circuit and the supreme courts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont; or whether it is enough to show that a "reasonable person" would regard the statement as threatening, as held by other federal courts of appeals and state courts of last resort."

Charters of Freedom: Bill of Rights