Stateline.

• Position: Brief Article

A KINDER, GENTLER BIKER

A proposed law in Ohio would bar discrimination against people who ride motorcycles or wear biker colors. Proponents say it is aimed at thwarting an outdated stereotype, that of the biker thug. Bikers claim they are routinely excluded from apartment houses, motels, restaurants and nightclubs just because they are wearing certain colors. The bill would levy a $500 civil find against any business found guilty of discriminating. South Carolina and Georgia are considering similar bills. Minnesota (the most caring state) passed the only such law three years ago.

TAX ON TABLE WINE TABOO

Alabama's table wine tax was recently ruled unconstitutional by a county circuit judge, according to The Birmingham News. The problem centers on the fact that wine produced outside the state is taxed at a rate 33 times higher than wine produced in the state. Out-of-state wine is taxed at 45 cents per liter, while vino produced in the state is taxed at 5 cents per gallon. If the judge orders refunds, they could be in the form of a lump sum or could be applied as tax discounts on future sales. An appeal is pending.

NEW MEXICO SENATE SWITCHES LEADERS-AGAIN

New Mexico Senator Manny Aragon is once again in legislative leadership after winning the Democratic floor leader position amid questions about the way the voting was handled. The decision was apparently made at a meeting in Santa Ana Pueblo at which only 12 of the 22 Senate Democrats-along with proxy votes of two absent colleagues- elected Aragon. Some Democrats opposed to Aragon have said they were notified about the meeting too late. A second vote, however, confirmed him as leader. Aragon had been Senate president pro tem from 1988 until January 2001, when a coalition of three Democrats joined all 18 Senate Republicans in voting to replace him.

FIGHTING POLLUTION AT HOME

Washington recently became the first state to comprehensively battle persistent bio-accumulative toxics, or PBTs, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer. These different toxic chemicals travel unseen from air to land to water and back again. They become more concentrated as they are eaten and passed up the food chain. They can damage our brains, immune systems and sexual reproduction organs. They can cause cancer. Many of these chemicals are so durable that they are still commonly found in the environment decades after they were banned. Some pollutants come from nations where their use is not restricted. Some are...