Highway Programs / Retail / Unemployment

Missoulian: Senate ready to pass highway programs overhaul

S.1813 : MAP-21
“Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century or the MAP-21 - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) (other than the Mass Transit Account) equal to current federal highway spending levels plus inflation for FY2012 and FY2013 for: (1) certain new and existing core federal-aid highway programs, and (2) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) administrative expenses.”- CRS Summery

Helena Independent Record: US business stockpiles rose 0.7 percent in January

Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services
“February 2012 retail and food services sales were $407.8 billion, up 1.1 percent from the previous month and up 6.5 percent from one year ago. Excluding autos, retail and food services sales in February were $335.3 billion, up 0.9 percent from January and up 6.4 percent from February 2011.”

Helena Independent Record: US job openings fell in January from 3 1/2 year high

REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- JANUARY 2012 “Regional and state unemployment rates were generally lower in January.Forty-five states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment ratedecreases, New York posted a rate increase, and four states had no change,the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

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Rural Schools / Working Lands for Wildlife

Missoulian: Senate OKs extension for programs that aid Montana counties, schools

S.AMDT.1825 To reauthorize for 1 year the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 and to provide full funding for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program for 1 year, and for other purposes.
S.1813: MAP-21

Missoulian: $33M federal program to pay rural landowners to boost endangered species

USDA and Interior Announce Wildlife Conservation Efforts to Support Local Economies and Preserve Farm and Ranch Traditions
“Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced a new $33 million partnership with farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to use innovative approaches to restore and protect the habitats for wildlife, including seven at-risk species and other vulnerable game species.”
Working Lands for Wildlife

America's Great Outdoors/ Tobacco

Missoulian: Obama proposes $29M in Montana land conservation projects

America’s Great Outdoors Initiative
“President Obama launched the America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative to develop a 21^st Century conservation and recreation agenda. AGO takes as its premise that lasting conservation solutions should rise from the American people – that the protection of our natural heritage is a non-partisan objective shared by all Americans.”

AMERICA’S GREAT OUTDOORS: Salazar Highlights Two Proposed Projects in Montana to Promote Outdoor Recreation, Conservation

America’s Great Outdoors Fifty-State Report

Missoulian: US: More work needed to stop youth tobacco use

2012 Surgeon General's Report—Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults

Solar Flares

Missoulian: Solar storm headed toward Earth may disrupt power

Second Biggest Flare Of the Solar Cycle
“The sun erupted with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle on March 6, 2012 at 7PM EST. This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare -- after an X6.9 on August 9, 2011 -- since the sun’s activity segued into a period of relatively low activity called solar minimum in early 2007.”

Homeland Security / Minority Report

Missoulian: UM president named to Homeland Security advisory council
Federal Register: Volume 77, Number 41, Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council; Establishment and Meeting
“The Secretary of Homeland Security has determined that the establishment of the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC) is necessary and in the public interest in connection with the performance of duties of the Office of Academic Engagement. This determination follows consultation with the Committee Management Secretariat, General Services Administration. The committee will hold its inaugural meeting on March 20, 2012.”

Missoulian: Report: Minority students face harsher punishments
Civil Rights Data Collection Announcement Today at 1:30 p.m.

Supreme Court/ Hydraulic Fracturing

Missoulian: Court: Inmate cannot change court-appointed lawyer

Martel v. Clair
“In March, Clair moved to substitute counsel, claiming that his attorneys were seeking only to overturn his death sentence, not to prove his innocence. After the court asked the parties to address the motion, Clair’s counsel informed it that they had met with Clair and that he wanted the FPD to continue representing him.”

Missoulian: EPA heightens scrutiny of Pa.'s Marcellus Shale

EPA: Key Documents About Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas Extraction