| David Nitkin on the O'Malley rumors
Bob Price, Lutherville: In his Feb. 10 column, [The Sun's] Dan Rodricks wrote that Joe Steffen is the "source of ... rumors" about Martin O'Malley. Has it been established or is there any evidence that Steffen is the "source" of the rumors rather than merely one of perhaps thousands of people who have been repeating a rumor that has been circulating for years?
Nitkin: Bob, no. There is no solid evidence that Steffen is the source of the rumors. In fact, posters on the FreeRepublic Web site, which Steffen was using, note that it would be a strange tactic to use a site devoted national politics to spread what is really a local or regional rumor.
Sean, Owings Mills: How do you know this Steffen fellow posted the info on the Web site? In other words, how do you know Steffen [posted under the handle] "ncpac"?
Nitkin: Sean, Steffen has personally confirmed in an interview with The Sun that he is "ncpac." He used to work for NCPAC, or the National Conservative Political Action Committee.
Popping pills in the suburbs?
There have been recent raids on dealers of prescription narcotics stolen from pharmacies. But the story-behind-the-story is the people who may be in your neighborhood or where you work who are getting high popping pain pills. It's drug abuse that may defy every stereotype you have about who's addicted and who's a dealer. "It was about a money-making thing for the doctors and pharmacies, and it was an addiction for me," Bill Wallace said. Wallace, a former Houston bank executive, agreed to talk openly about his past addiction. An addiction not to heroin or cocaine but to prescription painkillers. "I'd hurt my back," he said. A back injury led to a visit to his doctor. "He gave me Vicodin," he said.
Britney Comes to Court; Quickly Leaves
Spears was brought into a civic center garage in an SUV early Monday afternoon, but only two of her attorneys got out before the vehicle left, according to The Associated Press. The vehicle then appeared to circle the block as paparazzi ran in a frenzy to film it. Court spokesman Allan Parachini said Spears appeared to have left without ever going up to the courtroom. .
Consulting life's experiences: Drug rehabilitation counselor draws on ...
It is hard to find many individuals who will say their job saved their life, but Marvin Horn, drug rehabilitation counselor at Russellville's Freedom House, credits his workplace for just that.
A self-proclaimed alcoholic, Horn was not shy to tell The Courier how Freedom House not only helped him to beat his own addictions, but has also provided him with a fulfilling career.
Horn first entered treatment at Freedom House in January 1985 and has now been involved with the rehabilitation center for more than 20 years. At age 43, he enrolled at Arkansas Tech University, where he received a bachelor's degree in rehabilitation. Horn has also done some graduate work at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in rehabilitation science.
When asked to describe what he does at Freedom House, Horn quickly explained his job in one sentence.
Border fails the test of undercover U.S. investigators
Congress, sent out investigators to test how hard it would be to transfer large red duffel bags at unguarded and unmonitored spots along the 8,000-kilometre border. The tests were done from four northern states, which were not identified. The exercises were videotaped and photographed. The details of the investigation were outlined in a 13-page report that will be given to Congress. During one of the tests, a citizen noticed the unusual activity and alerted a border official, but by the time authorities came to the scene, they could not locate the undercover investigators. "Our work shows that a determined cross-border violator would likely be able to bring radioactive materials or other contraband undetected into the United States by crossing the U.S.-Canada border at any of the locations we investigated," the accountability office report states.
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