In the News January 2004

• Ban on adoptions by gays upheld by U.S. appeals court http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36831 
   

• Dubuque casino expansion OK'd http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4780934/23274358.html

  By WILLIAM PETROSKI and LYNN OKAMOTO 01/16/2004

  State gambling regulators Thursday unanimously approved a $15.6 million expansion to add 400 slot machines at Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino.

  The decision caught Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Sioux City Republican, off guard. Rants said he hadn't expected the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to approve any expansions because the commission recently asked lawmakers to study whether Iowa should issue more riverboat casino licenses.

Iowa Bill Would Prosecute Criminals for Violence Against Pregnant Women http://www.lifenews.com/state330.html
by Maria Gallagher - LifeNews.com Staff Writer - January 24, 2004
Des Moines, IA (LifeNews.com) -- Lawmakers in Iowa are considering a bill which would offer further protection for pregnant women who are victims of violence and ensure that criminals are prosecuted for unborn children who are killed or injured as a result of an assault.
Under the proposed "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," an unborn baby would be considered a person under law and the secondary victim, when a violent crime is committed against a pregnant woman.
 

• Lamberti is elected head of Iowa Senate- By TOM WITOSKY - Register Staff Writer - 01/15/2004
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  Iowa Senate members elected Sen. Jeff Lamberti, a Republican from Ankeny, as the new president of the Senate on Wednesday.
  Lamberti, who is serving his second term in the Senate, will serve as the Senate's presiding officer for the 2004 session. He succeeds former Senator Mary Kramer, a Republican from Clive, who has resigned to accept President Bush's appointment as ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean nations.
  "My priority as president of the Senate is quite simple," said Lamberti, who was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "It's Iowa and it's people."
  Lamberti, a Des Moines-area lawyer, said he would hope to provide the kind of leadership that "the people of Iowa expect."
  "We must provide our citizens the quality of life that separates us from the rest - quality education, crime-free cities, clean air and clean water. These are the qualities that make Iowa great," He said.
  Kramer announced her resignation from office Wednesday. The resignation reduces the Republican majority in the Senate to a 27-21 margin.   http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4780934/23263655.html

• Cloning Doctor Ridiculed By Scientists, Government - By Mike Wendling http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200401/FOR20040119a.html
  CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief - January 19, 2004
  London (CNSNews.com) - British officials and scientists have reacted with skepticism to a new human cloning claim made over the weekend by a controversial fertility doctor.
  Panayiotis Zavos, a Kentucky-based researcher, said during a press conference in London on Saturday that he had implanted a cloned embryo in a woman's womb.
  Zavos, who has made similar claims in the past, did not provide any conclusive proof of his claims. Cloning human embryos for reproductive purposes is illegal in Britain, but Zavos said the procedure wasn't carried out in the United States or Europe.
   

• 7-Eleven Poised to Re-enter Porn Biz - by Terry Phillips, correspondent  http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0029524.cfm

   

  The convenience store chain is at it again, peddling what it calls "adult magazines."

  After 17 years of not offering pornographic magazines, the 5,300 stores of the 7-Eleven chain are apparently planning to offer "adult publications" once again.

   

• Bush puts Pickering on court with recess appointment The Associated Press 01/16/04 http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0104/16pickering.html

   

  WASHINGTON -- In an election-year slap at filibustering Democrats, President Bush sidestepped Congress on Friday and installed Mississippi judge Charles Pickering to the federal appeals court after a two-year battle filled with racial, religious and regional argument.

   

  Bush elevated Pickering by recess appointment, simply putting him in office while Congress was out of session. Such appointments, bypassing confirmation, are valid until the next Congress takes office, in this case in January 2005.