Weapons of Mass Distraction? Calif. Retreats on Driving Rules
For a while this summer, it looked as if California's great multitude of motorists would have to forsake holding cell phones whenever they drove. Then it appeared that many of their other favored pastimes behind the wheel -- eating, grooming, reading -- would be banned, too.
Was the capital of car culture, where gridlocked freeways have become a second home for many residents, about to enter a new age of distraction-free driving?
No, it turns out. Earlier this month, state legislators shelved a bill that would have made California only the second state (New York was the first) to outlaw cell phone use on the road, except among motorists talking with hands-free devices such as earplugs or headsets. Then they backed off a last-minute plan to curb other bad habits of drivers as well.
Lawmakers who advocated the cell phone crackdown, which would have fined violators as much as $50, said the measure was needed to improve public safety. The California Highway Patrol contends that cell phones have become a prime distraction on the road and a contributing cause of a growing number of serious accidents -- more than 600 in the first half of last year. But skeptics of the bill, which most cell phone companies opposed, said that many other activities behind the wheel could be just as hazardous. Ban one, ban them all, some legislators said. But that idea didn't fly, either. So many changes were made to the cell phone proposal that in the end even its sponsor voted against it.
-- Rene Sanchez
To N.M. Family, a Priest Chose The Wrong Words for a Rite
Ben Martinez, a bar owner and former town councilman in Chama, N.M., was a lifelong Catholic. But when he died in June 2002 at the age of 80, his funeral was no ordinary service.
According to a lawsuit filed by nine members of his family against the Rev. Scott Mansfield and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Mansfield condemned Martinez during the funeral Mass. The priest criticized the "lukewarm" faith of the deceased man and said "the Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell," the lawsuit says.
"It just had an unbelievably devastating effect" on the Martinez family, said Kathleen Kentish Lucero, the family's lawyer. "They believed that their father was in hell." Since the funeral, nine surviving relatives have suffered from anxiety attacks, depression, nightmares and humiliation, Lucero said. The family is seeking compensation for emotional distress and defamation.
The archdiocese, which argues that the case involves freedom of speech and religion, wants to move the lawsuit from state to federal court.
Mansfield, a former rock-and-roll radio disc jockey who was ordained in 2000, acknowledged he quoted from the Bible's Book of Revelation during the funeral. In it, God says, "So, then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth."
While Mansfield denied condemning Martinez to eternal damnation, he said he did mean to reproach members of the family for failing to attend church regularly -- an assertion the family disputes.
"Sue Jesus Christ -- he said it," Mansfield said. "Sue the Scriptures."
-- Karin Brulliard
For Gay Rights Supporter, A Shushing at the Library
The Supreme Court's decision in June to ban state laws that criminalized private consensual sex between adults of the same sex was a proud moment for Bonnie Cuevas, a Topeka mother who is an active member of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
She took a few calls, talked with co-workers and even talked to a newspaper reporter who called. But her employer, the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, a short time later banned her from discussing the case at work again. Her bosses said a co-worker had complained that she was creating a hostile work environment.
Cuevas, an administrative employee at the library, has abided by the directive but also has teamed with the American Civil Liberties Union to fight it.
"This was the biggest legal step forward in lesbian and gay rights in history," Cuevas said in a written statement. "A public library, of all places, should understand why I, as the mother of a gay son, took a few minutes to talk about it."
David Leamon, the library's director, sees it differently.
"It's probably more of a library policy issue than a freedom of speech issue," Leamon said in an interview. "It's pending litigation, so I shouldn't say much more."
-- Robert E. Pierre
R.I. Closing Leaves Florida As Last State to Offer Jai Alai
Rhode Island lost a part of sports history last week when the nation's only fronton outside Florida ended its matches of the fastball game jai alai.
The Newport Grand Jai Alai announced that after 27 years it would stop live jai alai matches because of the cost and the growing customer preference for betting on video slot machines.
Last weekend marked the final game for the 39 players and assistants who lost their jobs. Some ushers and concession workers will move into other jobs at the Newport Grand.
"Tastes have changed, and people like faster-paced action, and you have to reinvent your business from time to time," said Diane Hurley, the Newport Grand Jai Alai's general manager.
Jai alai has dwindled in popularity since the 1980s, Hurley said.
But Rhode Island law had required the Newport Grand to continue running the games 100 days a year if it wanted to offer video slots.
Hurley says the Newport Grand was set to lose $2.5 million in salaries and benefits in 2003 from a game that attracted a handful of customers.
So Rhode Island lawmakers voted to allow the Newport Grand to remain open without jai alai.
Visitors still will be able to bet on live simulcast jai alai matches. But Hurley wants to convert the jai alai arena into a performing arts venue to compete with nearby casinos such as Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. The jai alai stadium's future, Hurley says, may be in its 3,000 seats with unobstructed views and its 2,000 parking spots, rather than a sport.
-- Christine Haughney
