| |
Click
on the title to preview a sample cover of any of our newsletters |
|
LOTTERY, PARIMUTUEL & CASINO REGULATION
Indian Gaming
U.S. appeals court gives regulators more power over Indian gambling
An appeals court panel ruling in a Seminole Nation of Oklahoma case has given authorities more power to regulate gambling on American Indian Land. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled Tuesday that the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission can temporarily close all of a tribe’s facilities even when only a few of the games are determined to be improper. The 3-0 decision is believed to be the first ever on the issue. "This is a very important decision," said Sheldon Sperling, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. "The NIGC can’t be expected to police tribal gambling without authority to enforce temporary closing orders."
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL
Binge Drinking
Study: Binge drinking on the rise in U.S. — highest increase among underage adults
Binge drinking is on the rise in the United States and is climbing fastest among 18- to 20-year-olds, who are too young to drink legally, according to a government survey. Episodes of binge drinking, defined as having five or more drinks in a sitting, increased 17 percent among all adults between 1993 and 2001, and shot up 56 percent among 18- to 20-year-olds, the telephone survey found. Adults age 18 to 20 went on drinking binges an average of 15 times in 2001, according to CDC. Those ages 21 to 25 did so an average of 18 times. The drinking age in the United States is 21. The survey was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings were published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Anti-Smoking Campaigns
Texas starts new anti-smoking campaign
Hoping to capitalize on the optimism of New Year’s resolutions, the Texas Department of Health last Monday unveiled a new statewide anti-smoking campaign aimed at men. The "Yes You Can" campaign – "Si Se Puede" in Spanish – features televised public-service announcements that portray a young father telling his friends that he quit smoking, said Dr. Phil Huang, head of tobacco prevention for the health department. While the father claims to have given up smoking on his own, the viewer is privy to scenes in which his children bury his cigarettes in the yard, flush them down the drain and leave him notes about smoking. "It talks about how there is help all around you, and how you do need your family and friends to help you quit," Huang said. About 25% of adult men in Texas smoke cigarettes, the highest rate of any group in the state, Huang said. "We also know that a lot of them have tried to quit before at some point," he said. "The message is that they can quit, and there is help all around them."
PUBLIC SAFETY & JUSTICE POLICIES
Gun Control
New Jersey becomes first state to require 'smart guns,' but technology not yet in place
New Jersey became the first U.S. state to enact "smart gun" legislation that would eventually require new handguns to contain a mechanism that allows only their owners to fire them. Gov. James E. McGreevey signed the bill into law requiring the "smart guns," but the rule will not go into effect immediately because the technology is still under development. It could be years before it becomes a reality. "This is common-sense legislation. There are safety regulations on cars, on toys. It's clearly time we have safety regulations on handguns," McGreevey said at the signing ceremony. Under the New Jersey law, smart-gun technology will be required in all new handguns sold three years after the state attorney general determines that a smart gun prototype is safe and commercially available.
FAMILY RELATIONS
Household Pets
New law means pets in California will come with instructions
Pet shop owners in California will have to do more than sell their customers the food, leashes and other supplies a cute ball of fur needs, now that a new state law has taken effect. As of Jan. 1, pet stores are required to provide customers printed instructions that explain how to care for their cats, birds, rodents and reptiles, a rule that some Southern California shop owners said barks up the wrong tree. Violators could be fined up to $1,000 "To me, I think the whole thing is a joke. It’s just going to take up extra space and extra money," said Mike Herr, owner of San Bar pet shop in Costa Mesa. The law was sponsored by state Sen. Edward Vincent, D-Los Angeles, at the request of the Doris Day Animal League. According to the bill, the literature must include information on the proper cleaning, handling and feeding of each type of pet.
PUBLIC SAFETY & JUSTICE POLICIES
Emergency Management
And speaking of Pets . . . New York governor signs bill requiring `wild animal' registration for dangerous pets that could harm first responders
New Yorkers who keep wild animals at home must inform local officials about the creatures' presence under a bill signed into law by Gov. George Pataki. The measure is designed to give "first responders" such as firefighters, police officers and medical technicians advance knowledge of potentially harmful or deadly animals in local homes that they may be called to in emergencies, said state Sen. William Stachowski, a Buffalo Democrat who sponsored the legislation. Stachowski said that the bill came following two incidents at Buffalo-area homes where authorities responding to emergencies were surprised to find venomous snakes. Authorities were not injured in either incident, he said. Under the legislation, town, city or village clerks have to be notified of the presence of potentially dangerous creatures such as wolves, wild cats, gorillas, venomous snakes or alligators or crocodiles longer than five feet. People who fail to report the dangerous animals are subject to a $250 fine for a first offense and fines of up to $1,000 for subsequent violations.
|
|
