Over the past four weeks, the City of Sydney Council has been trialling the provision of free Wi-Fi services in its libraries. With only a fortnight to go before the hotspots are switched off, a spokesperson has said that users won't have long to wait before access becomes a permanent fixture.

Michael Dell and other high-profile technology company CEOs descended on Washington this week with a message for the US government: do more to encourage energy-efficient practices, but don't spell out specific standards for the products that companies like theirs build.

Hillary Clinton hails victory as Barack Obama cries spin

So to say that voters only knew of Clinton going into Florida's primary because of name recognition and because the others did not campaign there, is more than an overstatement! If you think about the million voters who participated in Florida and realize that number is a fraction of registered democrat voters in the state, you start to realize that the primaries are not necessarily national indicators. Obama would lose big in Florida in November. Democrats who vote in primaries (ie. those that are more engaged in the contest) are clearly divided, therefore Obama has little chance of getting the nomination. Even if he did somehow get the nomination, does anyone doubt that the average midwestern white democrat would defect to McCain or another Republican? In the end the delegates will certainly go to Hillary if the Dem.

Volunteer Focus

Sandra Burkhardt, professor of psychology at St. Xavier University, has received the 2008 Venerable Mary Potter Humanitarian Award. Burkhardt was honored at the Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Center's Crystal Heart Ball held Feb. 2 at The Field Museum. The Venerable Mary Potter Humanitarian Award recognizes individuals whose personal and professional accomplishments embody the ideals, vision and mission of the founder of the Little Company of Mary Sisters.Burkhardt's award recognizes her support of families of children with autism spectrum disorders. Her work involves research, clinical services and community outreach. She founded Project Respect, an educational and recreational program supported by the Community Outreach Program of the Psychology Department of St. Xavier University.

Medicaire proposes budget

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Idaho's Medicaid director asked lawmakers on Thursday to approve a $1.4 billion budget, with just under one-third of that amount to come out of state coffers.Medical assistance services - as Medicaid and similar programs are called - make up the second-largest portion of Idaho's budget, after the support given to the public school system. And with 186,000 enrollees in Medicaid, most of them children and many with chronic illnesses or severe disabilities, perhaps it's no wonder. Still, "this remains the strictest program in terms of eligibility," Leslie Clement told members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.Medicaid is a state and federally funded program that provides health care for the poor and disabled. Concerned with the ever-growing costs of Medicaid, lawmakers two years ago launched a pilot project dividing Medicaid recipients into three groups, with three health care plans tailored to their needs.

All Things Considered on NHPR

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