| Rice says Hamas rocket attacks must stop
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Hamas rocket attacks against Israel "need to stop," demanding an end to the escalating violence that has rocked the Gaza Strip and set back U.S. efforts to promote a Mideast peace deal.Her appeal came after she met for an hour with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who also was visiting Japan."I am concerned about the humanitarian conditions there and innocent people in Gaza who are being hurt," Rice told reporters following her meeting with Olmert. "We have to remember that the Hamas activities there are responsible for what has happened in Gaza - the illegal coup that they led against the legitimate institutions of the Palestinian Authority. It is very clear where this started."The Rice-Olmert meeting came just hours after Israeli aircraft blasted Hamas government offices and metal shops in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday, killing a baby and wounding more than 30 people in a retaliatory strike after a militant rocket killed an Israeli college student.The bloodshed fed worries about a new outbreak of heavy fighting between the Israeli army and militants in the Gaza Strip.Despite the violence, Rice is planning to visit the region next week to meet with Palestinian and Israeli leaders to discuss the push to negotiate a peace accord, which could lead to a Palestinian state one day.Rice said she assured Olmert of U.S.
Dramatic 'Heavy Hitter' ads now considered OK
Members of a local Boy Scout troop appear in an advertisement for Las Vegas lawyer Glen Lerner that ran during the Super Bowl. The boy on the left portrays a young Lerner, supposedly honing his "Heavy Hitter" skills to defend a boy whose nose was bloodied by a bully.
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That $500,000 rambler
It shouldn't come as news to anyone that home prices in the Seattle region have soared. Theo Eicher, founding director of the University of Washington's Economic Policy Research Center, offers a thoughtful analysis of how zoning laws and other land-use regulations have driven home prices up by an estimated $200,000. Illuminating, but nothing that ought to spur changes in at least one key land-use regulation, the state's Growth Management Act. Residents in the Puget Sound region are getting a tremendous return on their investment. Restrictions on development have preserved the character and environmental appeal of our area. Policies sometimes work at cross-purposes. Yes, state and local growth-management laws restrict where homes can be built, affecting supply that contributes to rising prices.
Mohamed teddy bear teacher, Gillian Gibbons, is spared lash but gets ...
Ms Gibbons will have to rely on wellwishers bringing her food and water. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said he was "extremely disappointed" with the sentence and summoned Omer Siddig, the Sudanese Ambassador, to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to explain the decision. Mr Miliband said: "We are extremely disappointed that the charges against Gillian Gibbons were not dismissed. Our clear view is that this is an innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher. Our priority now is to ensure Ms Gibbons’s welfare." He said he wanted to discuss "the next steps" with his Sudanese counterpart. .
Tri-City plants among top polluters
Overall, the EPA said toxic releases in 2006 from 1,357 facilities in California were down 2.8 percent to 45.2 million pounds from the previous year. Tesoro's refinery historically has lagged behind the other refineries in installing upgrades. It has been the region's biggest polluter every year since at least 2003, according to an EPA toxics database. Mike Marcy, a Tesoro spokesman, said most of the toxic material reported by the refinery was ammonia that air quality regulators require to control smog. A $575 million upgrade that is scheduled tobe done this year will slash toxic pollution from the Tesoro refinery to about 500,000 pounds a year, Marcy said. "This is replacing 1950s technology that was here when Tesoro bought the refinery in 2002," he said.
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