By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer

“WASHINGTON – Nearly half the Senate is pushing the Bush administration to let gun owners carry handguns and other firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges.

Forty-seven lawmakers have signed a letter asking Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to lift Reagan-era restrictions that prevent citizens from carrying readily accessible firearms onto lands managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Current regulations, developed in the early 1980s, “infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners who wish to transport and carry firearms on or across these lands,” the senators wrote.”

“ATHENS, Ga. (AP) – The president of the University of Georgia proposed an eight-team playoff system to determine the NCAA’s national football champion.

Michael Adams, chairman of the NCAA executive committee, has opposed a playoff for 20 years but said Tuesday the current BCS system is “undercutting the sportsmanship and integrity of the game.”

Adams wants the NCAA to seed eight teams into the four bowls. If one of the major bowls declines to participate, then another bowl could fill the void.”

AMEN!

FULLERTON, Calif. – Police said they arrested a man who acknowledged digging holes on a park bike trail as payback for nearly being run down by a cyclist. Warren John Wilson, 52, faces a single felony count of vandalism, police Sgt. Linda King said Friday. King said nearly 50 holes measuring about 1 foot by 2 feet have been found since June along a trail at Laguna Lake Park, and in some cases attempts had been made to hide them from cyclists. She said some riders went over their handlebars after hitting the holes, but none reported major injuries. Detectives watching the trails questioned Wilson, who said he had nearly been run over by a mountain bike rider and began digging the holes in retaliation, King said. Police said Wilson had been released from custody. A phone listing for him could not be found.

I tend to snicker when I see those Share the Road signs. I know that many drivers do not pay enough attention to cyclists, however I have seen some very irresponsible cyclists in and around town. My husband thinks that all bikers should be required to wear white or yellow. Today we were driving in a very wooded area and the cyclist had on hunter green and brown. The guy is not duck hunting, he is sharing the road with moving vehicles and they need to see him. I have also been in areas where bikes share paths with walkers/hikers. I have seen a few crazy cyclists, but never thought of digging a hole. 

Jeff Carlton of the Associate Press wrote:

“Three times during his nearly 27 years in prison, Charles Chatman went before a parole board and refused to admit he was a rapist. His steadfastness was vindicated Thursday, when a judge released him because of new DNA evidence showing he indeed wasn’t. The release of Chatman, 47, added to Dallas County’s nationally unmatched number of wrongfully convicted inmates.”

Dallas County has a problem with convicting innocent people of crimes they did not commit. In fact of any county in the United States, Dallas County has the most cases overturned because of DNA evidence showing that the person convicted did not commit the crime. The state of Texas has the highest number of overturned cases in the United States. Despite having an alibi, Charles Chatman was sentenced to 99 years for aggravated assult. There was one black member on his jury.  DNA evidence proved that Charles Chatman was not guilty and he was released after serving 26 years.  What is going on with the state of Texas? Why has there not been a review of all cases in Dallas County? If there was such a rush to convict these people, where is the rush by Dallas County to review all cases in question. It sounds like there may be more innocent people sitting in jail wrongfully.

The Innocence Project of Texas assisted Mr. Chatman is overturning his conviction. The Innocence Project of Texas  is a group of projects from different Texas Universities that use student volunteer time to investigate claims of innocence by inmates in the prison system.