Local: New law protects wild areas in nine states
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed legislation Monday setting aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness.
Obama called the new law among the most important in decades “to protect, preserve and pass down our nation’s most treasured landscapes to future generations.”
Also in the legislation signed by Obama is a provision named for Superman actor Christopher Reeve that provides for paralysis research and care for persons with disabilities.
At a White House ceremony, Obama said the law guarantees that Americans “will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments and wilderness areas for granted, but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share. That’s something all Americans can support.”
The law—a collection of nearly 170 separate measures—represents one of the largest expansions of wilderness protection in a quarter-century. The measure confers the government’s highest level of protection on land in nine states—almost as much wilderness as designated during the past eight years combined.
Land protected by the 1,200-page law ranges from California’s Sierra Nevada and Oregon’s Mount Hood to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.
Land in Idaho’s Owyhee canyons; Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan; San Miguel County, N.M.; Zion National Park in Utah; and the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia also won wilderness protection.
In addition more than 1,000 miles of rivers in several states, including Vermont, Massachusetts, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, California, Utah, Virginia and Idaho, were designated wild and scenic. The law expands wilderness designation—which blocks nearly all development—into areas that previously were not protected.
—Matthew Daly
Nation: Obama puts GM, Chrysler on short leash
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama asserted unprecedented government control over the auto industry Monday, bluntly rejecting turnaround plans by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, demanding fresh concessions for long-term federal aid and raising the possibility of quick bankruptcy for either ailing auto giant.
Obama took the extraordinary step of announcing the government will back new car warranties issued by both GM and Chrysler, an attempt to reassure consumers their U.S.-made purchases will be protected even if the companies don’t survive.
“I am absolutely committed to working with Congress and the auto companies to meet one goal: The United States of America will lead the world in building the next generation of clean cars,” Obama said in his first extended remarks on the industry since taking office nearly 10 weeks ago. And yet, he added, “Our auto industry is not moving in the right direction fast enough to succeed.”
Obama, flanked by several administration officials at the White House, announced a short-term infusion of cash for the firms, and said it could be the last for one or both.
Chrysler, judged by the administration as too small to survive, got 30 days worth of funds to complete a partnership with Fiat SpA, the Italian manufacturer or some other automaker.
GM got assurances of 60 days worth of federal financing to try and revise its turnaround plan under new management with heavy government participation. That would involve concessions from its union workers and bondholders. The administration engineered the ouster of longtime CEO Rick Wagoner over the weekend, an indication of its deep involvement in an industry that once stood as a symbol of American capitalism.
—David Espo
World: 12 die in bloody siege at Pakistan police academy
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Black-clad Pakistani commandos overpowered a group of militants who had seized a police academy, took cadets hostage and killed at least six of them Monday in a dramatic challenge to the civilian government that faces U.S. pressure to defeat Islamic extremists.
The security forces stormed the compound on the outskirts of Lahore to end the eight-hour siege by the grenade-throwing gunmen, with three militants blowing themselves up and authorities arresting four, officials said. At least three other unidentified bodies were recovered.
Pakistan’s top civilian security official said militant groups were “destabilizing the country,” suggesting the plot may have originated with Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
Meanwhile, a Taliban member claiming to speak on behalf of a shadowy, little-known group called the Fedayeen al-Islam said it was behind the attack.
Earlier this month, gunmen ambushed Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Lahore, killing seven people and underscoring militants’ ability to wreak havoc far from Pakistan’s northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan where al-Qaida and the Taliban have proliferated.
“The eight hours were like eight centuries,” said Mohammad Salman, 23, a recruit who had holed up in the building. “It was like I died several times. I had made up my mind that it was all over.”
—Babar Dogar
