Free Republic

Anchorage, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin announced today that the State of Alaska filed a notice of intent to file a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s decision to list beluga whales in Cook Inlet as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. “The State of Alaska has worked cooperatively with the federal government to protect and conserve beluga whales in Cook Inlet,” said Governor Palin. “This listing decision didn’t take those efforts into account as required by law.” The notice of the state’s intent to sue was sent to the Secretary of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). It...

When the promising Paul Martin took over the reins of the Liberal Party 17 months ago, making him prime minister of Canada, the uppermost question was: Would he win the forthcoming election by the greatest margin in Canadian history, or merely by one of the greatest margins? When the election arrived last June, he almost lost it, gaining 135 seats in the 308-seat house, only enough to form a minority government. The rival Tories took 99 seats, Quebec's secessionist Bloc Quebecois 54, and the socialist New Democratic Party 19. There was one independent. Last week, a distraught Martin – exhausted,...

<p>BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Federal marshals have detained so many prisoners this year in the Baton Rouge area that they are being forced to house the inmates as far away as northeastern Louisiana.</p> <p>Since January, marshals handling the federal Middle Judicial District of Louisiana have averaged 64 prisoners in custody per day, more than twice as many as five years ago.</p>