CARSON CITY, Nev. – Controller Kathy Augustine was impeached by the state Assembly on Thursday for using her state-paid office workers and equipment to help run her 2002 re-election campaign. In a series of 42-0 voice votes, the Assembly sent three articles of impeachment to the state Senate, where a trial will be held to determine whether Augustine will be removed from office. In the year leading up to her re-election, Augustine “literally ran her campaign headquarters out of the Nevada State Capitol,” a state attorney said. Employees who didn’t help her “were berated, belittled and ultimately shunned from Kathy Augustine’s inner circle,” he said.
Kansas: Whooping cranes shot
Two of the world’s 500 or so whooping cranes were shot by a group of hunters who said they mistook the endangered birds for sandhill cranes, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent said. Farmers found the injured cranes Saturday near the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. One crane died Wednesday; the other is recovering. The hunters said they believed the birds would survive after watching them fly off. Killing a whooping crane could lead to a sentence of up to a one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Nebraska: Indian inmates’ rights
Nebraska prison officials have agreed to new rules to accommodate the religious and cultural needs of American Indian inmates in order to settle a federal court complaint. The agreement, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, requires prison officials to allow American Indian inmates to freely conduct religious ceremonies, hold two powwows a year and have access to medicine men, among other concessions. Nebraska has approximately 200 American Indian inmates.
Florida: Police stun 6-year-old
Police used a stun gun on a 6-year-old boy in his principal’s office because he was wielding a piece of glass and threatening to hurt himself, officials said Thursday. The boy, who was not identified, was shocked with 50,000 volts Oct. 20 at Miami’s Kelsey Pharr Elementary School. When the boy cut his own leg, one officer shocked him with a Taser and another grabbed him to prevent him from falling, police said. “By using the Taser, we were able to stop the situation, stop him from hurting himself,” a police spokesman said.
Louisiana: Abuse lawsuit settled
The Diocese of Baton Rouge is settling a lawsuit with a man who accused a long-deceased bishop of abuse, and it is yanking the bishop’s name from a high school. The Roman Catholic diocese did not give details of the settlement involving Bishop Joseph Sullivan. But Bishop Robert Muench, who announced the deal Wednesday, said the accuser’s allegations were credible. Sullivan was bishop in Baton Rouge from 1974 until his death in 1982. The accuser, now in his 40s, said he was 17 when Sullivan sexually abused him in 1975.
Missouri: Gay activists to meet
Organizers of a national gay and lesbian conference in St. Louis said soul-searching was in order after the resounding voter passage of gay marriage bans in 11 states last week. The executive director of the sponsoring National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said the election results left members troubled and fearful. It’s tough when “the vast majority of citizens in your state not only do not understand you but take hostile steps to change the constitution to take away rights we never even had,” he said. “There’s no way you can put lipstick on that pig.” About 2,000 people are expected to attend the conference.
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