A daily dose of online news from beyond the Beltway.

By Ryan Thornburg
Washingtonpost.com Staff
Thursday, Feb. 12, 1998

Independent counsels probably are not the most popular folks in Arizona today. On the same day that U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno called for a special prosecutor to investigate the state's former governor, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Arizona's attorney general signed his name to a letter calling for major changes in the independent counsel law. Grant Woods (R) and Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger (D) sent the letter to fellow attorneys general across the country, saying that "the current process has led to innumerable leaks and the inevitable politicization of the process."

"He's the front-runner, so he can afford to hide out and run on his daddy's name." – Oakland mayoral candidate Hugh Bassette, on former presidential candidate and current mayoral hopeful Jerry Brown's decision not to appear at a candidate forum. (San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 12)

Woods Calls for Counsel Law Repeal (The Arizona Republic, Feb. 12)

Calif.: Wilson Vetoes Contraceptive Bill
California Gov. Pete Wilson (R) vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have required health insurers to offer prescription birth control as a paid benefit in workplace health plans. Wilson wanted the measure to include a a "conscience clause" allowing employers to deny such coverage on moral or religious grounds.

In Utah, Republican state Rep. Sheryl Allen has proposed a similar bill, which has earned bipartisan support of women in the House.
Contraceptive Mandate for Insurers Vetoed (Los Angeles Times, Feb. 12)
Bill Would Force Insurers to Cover Cost of Contraceptives (The Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 12)

Poker Ban Quickly Moving Forward in S.C.
The South Carolina House of Representatives Wednesday easily moved to ban video poker next year. The plan, supported by Republican Gov. David Beasley, may not have enough support to pass the state Senate.

If legislative means fail to ban video poker, opponents of the $2-billion industry are asking a federal judge to send their case to the state Supreme Court in hopes of obtaining a statewide judicial ban.
S.C. House Backs '99 Poker Ban (The State, Columbia, S.C., Feb. 12)
Closing Arguments Today in Video Poker Challenge (The State, Columbia, S.C., Feb. 12)

Denver Stadium Vote Delayed
Colorado voters will have until November to think about whether they want to cough up as much as $265 million for a new stadium for the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos. Original estimates put the bill at $180 million.
No May Stadium Vote (The Denver Post, Feb. 12)

Ill. Elections Board Disqualifies Major Candidate for First Time
For the first time in its 25-year existence, the Illinois State Board of Elections on Wednesday disqualified a a big name candidate. The board said that Democratic secretary of state candidate Penny Severns submitted faulty candidacy petitions.
Severns is Scratched From Ballot (The Chicago Tribune, Feb. 12)

February Madness: The Alma Mater Connection
On the campus of Duke University in Durham, N.C., former professors of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr say nice things about his law school days. Starr's Duke ties raise an interesting question: Could the well-known basketball court rivalry between Duke and nearby University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill be so deep that it is playing out in federal court? White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles is a UNC graduate. And Bowles's wife is a former classmate of Hillary Clinton's at Wellesley College, where the future first lady roomed with the mother of future Duke basketball star Grant Hill.

OK, ACC basketball probably is not the missing link needed to explain the extraordinary events in Washington of late. But if there was a connection between the basketball rivalry and Starr's investigation, things bode well for Bowles and the White House: UNC has beaten Duke in basketball eight out of the last nine times the two teams have faced off.

Incidentally, Duke Law School is also the alma mater of former president and unindicted co-conspirator Richard M. Nixon.
Starr is Hot Topic at Duke (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C., Feb. 12)
Clinton's Top Aide to Speak to Grads (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C., Jan. 14, 1997)