News Round-up

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is looking for 500 people to test technology that could someday be used to collect a mileage-based user fee. Mn/DOT anticipates a fee on road usage might someday be necessary as more fuel efficient and hybrid cars are on the road, decreasing revenue from the gas tax.

A Multnomah County jury awarded a 33-year-old woman $82,000 Thursday, saying they wanted to send Portland police a message: Hand over a business card the next time a citizen asks for one. Several jurors who spoke to The Oregonian after the verdict in Multnomah County Circuit Court said police weren’t dealing with an urgent or dangerous situation...when Shei’Meka Newmann questioned what she thought was an unnecessarily rough arrest of a fellow MAX rider. It would have taken only a few seconds for an officer to hand Newmann a card, jurors said.

From CNN (April 18): "For schoolchildren, where's the water?" (Note: mild dehydration said to affect children's ability to learn. Is this the new food police crusade? If they want to improve children's ability to learn, how about improving the teachers?]

For more commentary visit Wendy McElroy.com