Ex-El Paso mayor: UMC non-renewal of Texas Tech anesthesia contract will have disastrous effect

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John Cook

Former El Paso Mayor John Cook said the decision by University Medical Center to privatize its anesthesia services will have a disastrous effect on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center-Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.

Cook said he heard that UMC may have had some concerns about the administration of the anesthesiology program at Texas Tech, but that these concerns were being addressed.

"Privatization of these services is a dangerous step," Cook said. "I believe it's not too late. This development could ruin the reputation of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. We need to grow the school, not shrink it."

Cook, who spoke before the UMC board on the issue, said an independent third-party arbitrator needs to brings UMC and Texas Tech together to work out any differences that led to the non-renewal of the anesthesia contract with Texas Tech.

Cook said the school of medicine is one of the strategic building blocks for El Paso's economic prosperity in the future, in addition to enhanced health care for the community. The other building blocks include UMC, Texas Tech, the new school of nursing, the El Paso Children's Hospital, and the health education partnerships with El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso.

Dr. Gabor Racz, who helped set up the anesthesiology system at TTUHSC-El Paso, said, "I believe it's a huge error which I find very disappointing. Saving money now could lead to preventable deaths in the future. This is not an area (anesthesiology) where you want to cut corners."

Racz, who is based at Texas Tech in Lubbock, said he is voicing his opinion as a medical expert and not on behalf of the university. "I read about what happened, and I felt compelled to advise against this move," Racz said.

University Medical Center officials refused to release bid documents for the top four anesthesia services contract proposals that UMC's board of managers considered before selecting New York-based Somnia Inc. over Texas Tech.

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Ex-El Paso mayor: UMC non-renewal of Texas Tech anesthesia contract will have disastrous effect

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Liberty vs. liberty: Religious freedom bills trouble gay rights supporters

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Nearly 250 gay rights supporters protest SB1062 at the Arizona Capitol, Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, in Phoenix. The protesters gathered demanding Gov. Jan Brewer veto legislation that would allow business owners to refuse to serve gays by citing their religious beliefs. The governor must sign or veto Senate Bill 1062 by the end of this week.

Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press

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WASHINGTON As Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer weighs a decision whether to sign a bill strengthening the state's religious liberty protections for individuals and businesses, her state is one of several wrestling with a balance between religious liberty and anti-discrimination laws.

The bill comes in the wake of a number of cases across the country in which same-sex couples complained that business owners refused service on the grounds of religious belief. In one prominent example, a New Mexico court said last year that the refusal of wedding photographer Elaine Huguenin to take pictures of a same-sex wedding was not protected under that state's version of the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, since the state was not acting to force an action.

That decision has moved legislators in several states to try to pass religious protections for their citizens. While Arizona's bill passed the Legislature, most of the others have failed in various legislative processes for reasons including political pressure, concerns over constitutional challenges and fears of public backlash.

In Kansas, for example, a bill protecting religious beliefs passed the state House of Representatives two weeks ago, but was killed in the state Senate, the Kansas City Star reported, after a flood of protests. The paper cites state Senate Vice President Jeff King, a Republican, as saying a Senate committee will re-examine religious freedom issues in March.

In Idaho, House Bill 426 would prevent state or local agencies from denying licenses to businesses that exercised their conscience. It was sent back to committee, and observers believe it won't return to the floor of the Legislature this year.

South Dakota's Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday squashed a bill protecting businesses that refused to serve or hire gays from lawsuits, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reported. In Tennessee, a bill allowing businesses and organizations to refuse service to same-sex couples was withdrawn from the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as well, according to WSMV-TV in Nashville.

Liberty vs. liberty

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Liberty vs. liberty: Religious freedom bills trouble gay rights supporters

Liberty University students going to "The Voice"

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Pedestrian killed by UPS truck in Roanoke Pedestrian killed by UPS truck in Roanoke

Updated: Monday, February 24 2014 8:17 PM EST2014-02-25 01:17:00 GMT

Roanoke City Police say a pedestrian has died after being hit by a UPS truck around 6:30p.m. along Elm Avenue. Police say the pedestrian died at the scene and the accident is under investigation. Police

Roanoke City Police say a pedestrian has died after being hit by a UPS truck around 6:30p.m. along Elm Avenue. Police say the pedestrian died at the scene and the accident is under investigation. Police

Updated: Tuesday, February 25 2014 11:57 AM EST2014-02-25 16:57:06 GMT

Roanoke Police say a pedestrian hit at 4th Street and Elm Ave. at 6:30PMyesterday was pronounced dead at the scene. The identity of the victim is being held until family members can be notified. Police also say that alcohol "may have been a factor with the pedestrian", but their investigation is still ongoing.

Roanoke Police say a pedestrian hit at 4th Street and Elm Ave. at 6:30PMyesterday was pronounced dead at the scene. The identity of the victim is being held until family members can be notified. Police also say that alcohol "may have been a factor with the pedestrian", but their investigation is still ongoing.

Updated: Tuesday, February 25 2014 11:07 AM EST2014-02-25 16:07:42 GMT

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Patrol Officer Richard Donohue, who was wounded in the line of duty following the Boston Marathon bombing, will speak at the Virginia Military Institute today.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Patrol Officer Richard Donohue, who was wounded in the line of duty following the Boston Marathon bombing, will speak at the Virginia Military Institute today.

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Liberty University students going to "The Voice"

Liberty ISD asked to annex Featherstone

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Some residents of the Featherstone subdivision, just off SH 146 on the north end of Liberty, want to leave the Hardin Independent School District and become a part of Liberty ISD, and to that end have submitted a petition to Libertys school board requesting annexation.

At a special-called meeting Monday night, Feb. 24, the Liberty ISD board heard arguments for and against annexing the roughly 1,700 acres that have been a part of Hardin ISD, as far as anyone knows, as long as that school district has existed.

Both Liberty and Hardin have free transfer policies allowing students to chose where to attend school, and many of the school-aged residents of Featherstone attend Liberty schools. The subdivision is within the city limits of Liberty and closer to Liberty High School than to Hardin High, but Libertys buses do not run to Featherstone because it is outside their district.

According to annexation supporters at Monday nights meeting, most students living in Featherstone go to Liberty schools.

Local attorney Matthew Gott spoke before the Liberty board on behalf of those seeking annexation.

While a number of reasons were put forward favoring annexation, including that Liberty has a golf team and Hardin does not, the real issue came down, as it must, to a discussion of money.

Should Liberty ISD successfully annex Featherstone, the district will obtain not only the students living there and add the subdivisions property to its tax rolls, but the district will also very likely receive a proportional share of Hardin ISDs debt.

At the same time, Hardin ISD would lose the property from its tax base just as that district is preparing for a bond election in the hope of building a new elementary school.

Hardin ISD Board member Jerry Ursprung, a resident of Featherstone, spoke to the Liberty board and argued against annexation saying that Hardin cannot afford the loss of that $18 million worth of its tax base.

Liberty Superintendent Dr. Cody Abshier wondered, too, whether the reduction of its tax base would hurt Hardins ability to shoulder a bond.

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Liberty ISD asked to annex Featherstone

'Libertarian paranoia' is the newest fad in politics

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Recently, politicians and others have expressed concern over so-called "paranoid libertarians"...

Look out: The libertarians are coming! The libertarians are coming! Never before have so many been so intimidated by so few, with so little political power.

Salon.com offers near-daily warnings about the libertarian threat:

It's corrupting progressivism: Don't ally with libertarians: Ideologues co-opt an anti-NSA rally.

It's even infecting your iPhone apps: The Secret Libertarianism of Uber and Airbnb.

Beware of Libertarians Bearing Gifts, the Center for American Progress admonishes: a bipartisan move against the NSA could kill the New Deal.

Anti-libertarian paranoia plagues our elected officials too: the anarchists have taken over, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., wails. This strain of libertarianism ... is a very dangerous thought," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie warned last summer in the wake of Edward Snowden's exposure of National Security Agency spying: I want [these critics] to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans (Pro tip: don't take the George Washington Bridge).

Im very nervous about the direction this is moving in, the governor added.

Recently, three prestigious academics have argued that you should be especially nervous about Paranoid Libertarians. Distinguished historian Sean Wilentz coined the term last month in a New Republic hit piece on Snowden and journalist Glenn Greenwald. These NSA critics despise the liberal state and want to wound it, he charged.

Picking up Wilentz's term, Harvard law professor and former Obama administration regulatory czar Cass Sunstein offered tips on How to Spot a Paranoid Libertarian. And, writing at Slate, the University of Chicago's Eric Posner warned that libertarian paranoia kills: in fact, the fear of government is far more serious than the fear of flying.

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'Libertarian paranoia' is the newest fad in politics