People & politics.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSLATIONS

New Mexico Senator John Pinto, a member of the Navajo Nation, was honored by his colleagues for his 30 years of service in the Legislature. The 82-year-old was cited for his work on improving roads and infrastructure on tribal lands and sharing his culture with other members. Pinto, who sings a "potato song" in Navajo each session, has a master's degree in education and has worked in a school district for 20 years. He was a Marine in World War II who served as a Navajo code talker.

Representative Richard Cathcart is Delaware's new House majority leader. He was elected by his colleagues following the resignation of Representative Wayne Smith, who retired to become president of the Delaware Health Care Association.

The Massachusetts legislature elected its first woman to lead a chamber when they voted to make Senator Therese Murray president of the Senate. Murray, first elected to the Senate in 1993, succeeds Senator Robert Travaglini who stepped down in March to begin his own lobbying firm.

Former New Mexico Senate President Pro Tern Manny Aragon was indicted in March by a federal grand jury on charges of mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. He and three others allegedly cheated the state out of $4 million in a construction scheme. His indictment "casts a shadow over the Legislature. There's a lot of honorable people in the Legislature, and everyone is affected by it," says Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez.

According to a poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, 68 percent of likely voters think term limits have been a good thing, and 64 percent oppose a preliminary proposal to change the provisions of California's legislative term limits. Coping With Term Limits, a joint study by NCSL, the Council of State Governments and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, found that term limits have generally had negative effects on the institution of the legislature. The poll also reports that 41 percent of California adults approve of the job of the Legislature while 42 percent disapprove.

Sometimes what goes around comes around. Tennessee Representative Joey Hensley was one of two Republicans to vote against a resolution honoring former Vice President Al Gore that had passed the Senate. So when he sponsored a bill to name part of U.S. Highway 43 "Fred Thompson Blvd." after the former U.S. senator and star of "Law and Order," his Democratic colleagues voted to stall the bill in a House subcommittee.

But naming...