Ambulance Service A Struggle In Rural Colo. Counties

Colorado voters are deciding today whether to raise taxes to help fund schools. Proposition 103 is the nation's only statewide tax vote this November, and it's setting off a battle between business leaders worried about the economy and education interests saying the economy will never recover without well-funded schools. Kirk Siegler of member station KUNC reports that the measure is also seen as a barometer for the nation's mood on taxes.

The number of poor people living in America's suburbs now surpasses those in cities or rural areas. Long focused on the urban poor, social service agencies are now trying to respond to the basic needs of a much more far-flung population.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The number of poor people living in America's suburbs now surpasses those in cities or rural areas. Long focused on the urban poor, social service agencies are now trying to respond to the basic needs of a much more far-flung population.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

After firing 20% of its workers, doubling water rates and outsourcing trash collection, Flint, Michigan, has a balanced budget. It’s also approaching the point at which it can’t function as a city. That’s the assessment of Edward Kurtz, its emergency manager. Without reliable revenue to replace dwindling property and income taxes and state funding, the birthplace of General Motors Co. won’t be able to support its citizens, even if its books are square, Kurtz said.

Hundreds of counties in dozens of states have less money to pay for schools, roads, health clinics and other basic services because of the loss of timber payments. In the 1990s, battles over the spotted owl slowed logging in the Pacific Northwest to a trickle. For the next two decades, once timber-dependent counties in Oregon and elsewhere came to rely on payments from the federal government to make up for lost revenues. Now, the law authorizing those payments has expired. Oregon Public Broadcasting's David Nogueras reports.

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund are hammering out details of an emergency funding package for Ireland. Officials in Dublin resisted outside help for weeks, but on Sunday agreed to a three-year bailout package to keep their banks and their government from failing.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Authorities in Pakistan have suspended a local doctor who was caught taking a cow home from market in an ambulance, officials said Monday."Dr Muneer Qadri was caught red handed. He was carrying a cow in an ambulance from Kunjah market to his residence in Tanda village," the head of the local police station, Mohammad Akram, told AFP by telephone.Qadri, head of a rural health centre in Tanda near the border with India, bought the animal at a nearby cattle market on Saturday. Police stopped his ambulance and found the animal inside, tied to a metal bar.