Declarations

Ku Klux Klan

“The ability of the State Patrol to effectively protect its citizens requires the public’s trust. Allowing a Klan member in the ranks destroys that trust.”

Comments made by the Nebraska Attorney General after the office asked a district court judge to vacate an arbitrator’s decision that a Nebraska state trooper should be reinstated despite his membership in a group tied to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). This is an injustice that cannot stand, Attorney General Bruning said. The hearing occurred in Lancaster County District Court before Judge Jeffre Cheuvront. Chief Deputy Attorney General Matt McNair handled the case. A reply brief was also submitted for the court’s review. After receiving a tip, a state patrol investigation determined that the officer in question had joined a group associated with the KKK known as the Knights Party. The trooper’s employment was terminated March 15.

Wisconsin governor

“I am advocating that everybody in the state of Wisconsin be able to deduct every bit of their health insurance premiums,” adding that it would benefit 650,000 individuals and families in Wisconsin.

Gov. Jim Doyle pushed his proposal to give tax deductions for health insurance premiums during a debate before the elections. Mark Green said health savings accounts can help solve the problem of rising health care costs. But the candidates mixed in jabs at each other throughout their third and final debate before the election for governor. Green, a Republican congressman from Green Bay, said that during the Democratic incumbent’s four years in office, the state’s number of people without health insurance had gone up, while health care costs have risen faster than the national average.

Teen driving

“You find many teens doing dangerous things behind the wheel during these unstructured hours between the end of school and when parents get home from work.”

Jack Peet, manager of Community Safety Services for AAA Michigan comments on dangerous driving time for teens. Many think weekend and evening driving is the time to worry about younger drivers, but in an analysis of crash data, AAA found that nearly as many 16- and 17-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes between 3 and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday as were on Friday and Saturday nights between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. Between 2002 and 2005, the totals were 1,100 and 1,237, respectively, for the weekday and weekend periods.