Prime Minister John Key anointed fast-rising ministers Paula Bennett, Jonathan Coleman, Amy Adams and Simon Bridges as his potential successors in a Cabinet reshuffle yesterday that adds fresh blood to his front bench.

The four are among Mr Key's top nine on the front bench. Former Social Development Minister Ms Bennett was an existing front-bencher but she moves along four places to take the No 5 spot with the State Services, Social Housing and Associate Finance portfolios and retains Local Government.

Dr Coleman takes Tony Ryall's Health portfolio and the No 6 place, Amy Adams is the new Justice Minister and is at No 7 and Mr Bridges takes Transport and the final spot on the front bench at No 9.

Finance Minister Bill English, Canterbury Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce keep their second, third and fourth spots on the front bench.

Mr Key said his decisions were influenced by the failure of the Helen Clark-led Labour Government to rejuvenate fast enough, "and actually to promote the next wave of senior ministers".

Earlier yesterday, the Prime Minister referred to those ministers he promoted as the "next generation, I think, of leadership".

Mr Key has indicated he intends staying on as PM and National Party leader for this term at least.

Attorney-General Chris Finlayson holds his portfolio and his No 8 spot and picks up the Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau portfolios.

Although Ms Bennett said she was happy being in Cabinet for the time being, she did not rule out future leadership hopes.

"I think this kind of proves you never know what's just around the corner. If you'd asked me 20 years ago if I'd thought I'd be sitting on the front bench in a National-led Government, I'd have said no. So I don't know what the future holds. I just want to do the best I can now so that I've got options."

Continued here:
Key's Cabinet gets a revamp

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - ??

Here is a list of road projects around the Heartland scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Butler County, MO

Route 72 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform shoulders repairs. This section of roadway is located from Old Route 72 to Route B.

Existing lanes of Route 67 from CR 323 to Route 160/158 will be signed as Route C. The north end of Route C (existing Route 67) will remain closed for about two months as work is completed at the intersection of Route 67, Route C, and CR 323.

Cape Girardeau County, MO

Northbound Interstate 55 will be reduced to one lane as contractor crews perform pavement repairs. This section of road is located at the 96 mile marker underneath the Route K overpass. Weather permitting, crews will be working from Friday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 19 from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily.

Starting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, contracted concrete slab repair and replacement will begin on Silver Springs Road between Independence Street and Bloomfield Road in Cape Girardeau. The work will cause lane closures. The expected project completion time is about four weeks.

MoDOT plans to replace the bridge on Route 61 over Hughes Creek - two miles from Route CC. Construction is set to begin in 2015.

Property owners adjacent to the bridge will have access to their properties. A marked detour is proposed here:

View original post here:
Heartland road projects for 10/7

Jonathan Coleman doesn't foresee any big changes to the health service under his watch.

He's the new minister of health in Prime Minister John Key's cabinet, and he's been promoted to the front bench.

He says he'll be following on where his predecessor Tony Ryall left off. Mr Ryall retired after six years as health minister.

"I will be following Tony's approach, it wouldn't be common sense to make any big changes," he told NZ Newswire.

"The health targets have worked really well, and the DHB structure, so changing it isn't something we would be looking at."

Dr Coleman, a former GP, says he's thrilled to get the job.

"I've trained and worked as a doctor and then I went into politics, it brings those two strands together and I'm hugely excited."

Along with health, he's been given sport and recreation.

Mr Key says that's because he wants an emphasis on obesity prevention, and the two areas link well together.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully, who held the sport and recreation portfolio in the previous cabinet, will retain responsibility for high performance sport.

Continued here:
New health minister `a strong replacement'

Originally published October 4, 2014 at 2:00 PM | Page modified October 4, 2014 at 7:03 PM

Jenny Durkan's office put away a lot of criminals -- terrorists, cartel operatives, killers -- during her five-year tenure as Seattle's top federal prosecutor.

Montez Cornelius isn't one of them.

A former Navy medic who served three tours in Iraq, Cornelius caught a break after he was charged with defrauding the government by lying about the distance he traveled to Veterans Administration appointments. Instead of being sent to prison, he entered a program Durkan pressed to create, one of the nation's first federal drug courts. He received addiction counseling, complied with court requirements and graduated without a conviction.

"It is a life-saving program," said Cornelius, who is now working on a master's degree. "I had never heard of prosecutors and judges having any kind of heart for people going through the system."

Durkan's decision to ask U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo S. Martinez to establish the program exemplifies the sort of initiative she exhibited as U.S. attorney -- a record that has some suggesting she could replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder.

"I made my voice clear to the White House," said former Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, who tapped Durkan as her personal lawyer years ago. "She is the perfect person to be named attorney general. She has provided significant leadership in the Department of Justice. We are well into the president's second term, and we need someone who can get in and hit the ground running."

Durkan's chances are unknown, but Gregoire planned to make the case again when she met with Vice President Joe Biden in Boston on Thursday. Durkan's name has also been pushed by national gay rights groups eager to see the appointment of the first openly gay Cabinet member.

"That my name is being mentioned at all is obviously an honor and a privilege, but what it's a real testament to is the work of this office," Durkan said in an interview before stepping down last week. "We are not only aligned with what I think the department's priorities have been, we've led the way in a lot of ways."

Among them: civil rights, including efforts to reform the Seattle Police Department. Before becoming U.S. attorney, Durkan served on police oversight panels and was concerned about what she considered recurring problems.

More here:
U.S. attorney exits amid Holder replacement rumors

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - ??

Here is a list of road projects around the Heartland scheduled for Friday, Oct. 3.

Butler County, MO

Route 72 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform shoulders repairs. This section of roadway is located from Old Route 72 to Route B.

Existing lanes of Route 67 from CR 323 to Route 160/158 will be signed as Route C. The north end of Route C (existing Route 67) will remain closed for about two months as work is completed at the intersection of Route 67, Route C, and CR 323.

Cape Girardeau County, MO

Northbound Interstate 55 will be reduced to one lane as contractor crews perform pavement repairs. This section of road is located at the 96 mile marker underneath the Route K overpass. Weather permitting, crews will be working from Friday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 19 from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily.

Starting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, contracted concrete slab repair and replacement will begin on Silver Springs Road between Independence Street and Bloomfield Road in Cape Girardeau. The work will cause lane closures. The expected project completion time is about four weeks.

MoDOT plans to replace the bridge on Route 61 over Hughes Creek - two miles from Route CC. Construction is set to begin in 2015.

Property owners adjacent to the bridge will have access to their properties. A marked detour is proposed here:

More here:
Heartland road projects for 10/3

UPDATE, 3:15 p.m., Oct. 1:

The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled Oct. 1 5-0 to allow the Republican Party to select a candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates 35th District race in November.

The ballots will have to be reprinted and redistributed with the new candidate's name, Marie Sprouse-McDavid, listed. The decision came at about 3:15 p.m., the day after justices heard the case.

Click HERE to read the order.

After hearing the case, several Justices issued statements in the ruling.

Justice Allen Loughry said the practical effect of the Election Commission and Secretary of State Natalie Tennant's failure to be knowledgeable of and comply with this state's election laws has serious consequences.

Loughry addressed the fact military ballots have been printed and mailed, and the ballots must be reprinted and re-sent to the voters, at a cost.

Seeking to escape the consequences of their inaction, the Commission and Secretary Tennant offensively suggest that an amendment to the ballot may cause our military men and women and overseas voters to be confused about the need to complete a second ballot,' and thus lead to their disenfranchisement, Loughry wrote in his concurrence. I seriously doubt that our military and overseas voters are so easily confused.' Perhaps more offensive is the respondents' suggestion that the voters of the 35th District should simply grin and bear the consequences of the Commission's failure to follow the law.

Justice Menis Ketchum said it was his belief that the Election Commission blatantly ignored both a black-letter election law, and a 22-year-old case interpreting that law.

Ketchum wrote the decision process is a simple choice of one or the other. The Legislature crafted election laws that attempt to be fair to both sides. Sauce for the goose, as they say, is sauce for the gander.

Read the original here:
LATEST: WV Supreme Court rules State Election Commission must allow GOP to add candidate to 35th District ballot

The Cabinet will be looking to move past tensions over the Seanad cronyism row when it meets again this morning.

Also on the agenda will be a proposed referendum on the Constitutional ban on blasphemy.

While the ECs probe into the Governments tax dealings with Apple isnt officially due for discussion - its understood it could be raised by Ministers concerned about the impact on Irelands reputation.

Tnaiste Joan Burton told reporters yesterday that she was satisfied with Enda Kennys explanation over John McNultys nomination for the Seanad - after a row which opened new tensions in the coalition.

The matter is still fresh on the minds of Ministers at Cabinet this morning - with both Fianna Fil and Sinn Fin are calling for Dil debates on the matter.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald looks set to act upon the Constitutional Conventions call for the removal of the blasphemy offence.

According to The Irish Times, she will bring a memo to her colleagues proposing a referendum - with a new general ban on incitement of religious hatred the likely replacement.

It all comes against the backdrop of the Finance Ministers final negotiations with his colleagues - with just two weeks to go until Budget day.

More:
Cabinet hoping to draw a line under cronyism row

WASHINGTON

Marylander Thomas E. Perez, who has served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor for a little more than a year, is now being eyed for an even more prominent position in President Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet: successor to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Perez, a former Maryland labor secretary and Justice Department official, is emerging as a candidate in part because of his extensive legal background but also because he has a close relationship with the president and shares a similar political worldview, supporters said.

White House aides declined to discuss the process publicly, but an official familiar with the effort confirmed Perez is one of several people under consideration. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. and Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in New York, are among others whose names have been floated for the job.

Perez, a 52-year-old Takoma Park resident, joined the Justice Department in 1989 and was named head of the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation under Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2007. He returned to Justice in 2009 to lead the department's civil rights division.

He also served on the Montgomery County Council and worked for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, who died in 2009.

"He understands the importance of fairness and opportunity," said Victoria Schultz, associate dean at the University of Baltimore School of Law, who worked for Perez at the civil rights division. "He doesn't make decisions lightly, and he likes to listen to everybody around the table."

Despite many strengths, Perez's selection also would pose serious challenges for the Obama administration. As a practical matter, shifting Perez from one Cabinet post to another would require two confirmation battles in the Senate one for Perez at Justice and another for his replacement at Labor.

And if Perez's confirmation to lead Labor last year is any indication, he would likely face resistance on Capitol Hill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to him then as a "crusading ideologue," and he was confirmed only as part of a broader deal to avoid wholesale change to Senate rules.

Republicans, led by Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, criticized Perez over what they described as a "shady" deal in which the Justice Department allegedly dropped a lawsuit against the city of St. Paul, Minn., in 2012 in exchange for the city dropping separate civil rights litigation against the federal government.

Continued here:
Maryland's Perez draws attention to replace Holder

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - ??

Here is a list of road projects around the Heartland scheduled for Tuesday, September 30.

Butler County, MO

Route 72 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform shoulders repairs. This section of roadway is located from Old Route 72 to Route B.

Existing lanes of Route 67 from CR 323 to Route 160/158 will be signed as Route C. The north end of Route C (existing Route 67) will remain closed for about two months as work is completed at the intersection of Route 67, Route C, and CR 323.

Cape Girardeau County, MO

Starting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, contracted concrete slab repair and replacement will begin on Silver Springs Road between Independence Street and Bloomfield Road in Cape Girardeau. The work will cause lane closures. The expected project completion time is about four weeks.

Route EE will be closed while crews perform work on the railroad crossing. This section of road is located between Route 25 and County Road 264. Weather permitting, crews will be working on Friday, Sept. 12 and then again on Monday, Sept. 29 through Thursday, Oct. 2 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

MoDOT plans to replace the bridge on Route 61 over Hughes Creek - two miles from Route CC. Construction is set to begin in 2015.

Property owners adjacent to the bridge will have access to their properties. A marked detour is proposed here:

Read more from the original source:
Heartland road projects for 9/30

WASHINGTON

Marylander Thomas E. Perez, who has served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor for a little more than a year, is now being eyed for an even more prominent position in President Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet: successor to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Perez, a former Maryland labor secretary and Justice Department official, is emerging as a candidate in part because of his extensive legal background but also because he has a close relationship with the president and shares a similar political worldview, supporters said.

White House aides declined to discuss the process publicly, but an official familiar with the effort confirmed Perez is one of several people under consideration. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. and Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in New York, are among others whose names have been floated for the job.

Perez, a 52-year-old Takoma Park resident, joined the Justice Department in 1989 and was named head of the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation under Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2007. He returned to Justice in 2009 to lead the department's civil rights division.

He also served on the Montgomery County Council and worked for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, who died in 2009.

"He understands the importance of fairness and opportunity," said Victoria Schultz, associate dean at the University of Baltimore School of Law, who worked for Perez at the civil rights division. "He doesn't make decisions lightly, and he likes to listen to everybody around the table."

Despite many strengths, Perez's selection also would pose serious challenges for the Obama administration. As a practical matter, shifting Perez from one Cabinet post to another would require two confirmation battles in the Senate one for Perez at Justice and another for his replacement at Labor.

And if Perez's confirmation to lead Labor last year is any indication, he would likely face resistance on Capitol Hill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to him then as a "crusading ideologue," and he was confirmed only as part of a broader deal to avoid wholesale change to Senate rules.

Republicans, led by Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, criticized Perez over what they described as a "shady" deal in which the Justice Department allegedly dropped a lawsuit against the city of St. Paul, Minn., in 2012 in exchange for the city dropping separate civil rights litigation against the federal government.

Read this article:
Perez draws attention for attorney general