Drug Testing of Students Halted:  A Shasta County judge has issued a preliminary injunction to halt random drug testing of students engaged in non-athletic, school sponsored extracurricular activities.  A story by Sacramento Bee writer Denny Walsh reports that the injunction will remain in force until a lawsuit challenging the testing requirement is decided on the merits.  The ACLU filed the lawsuit last December on behalf of three students who objected to the policy, which required testing before students could participate in academic and arts competitions.   The attorney for the school district believes that there is no state law on the random mandatory drug testing of high school students.  The attorney representing the students, who is working pro bono along with the ACLU, does not agree.  "This was an extreme policy, far beyond what California law allows,.." she said.

Specter to Chair Subcommittee:  In an apparent move to heal the wound caused when Senate Democrat leaders stripped Senator Arlen Specter of his seniority - after changing his party affiliation - Sen. Specter has been given the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs.  Shailagh Murray, of the Washington Post, reports that Sen. Specter will replace Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin as Chairman of the subcommittee which holds jurisdiction over most Justice Department activities.  Senate leaders are sticking with their decision not to restore Specter's seniority on the Judiciary Committee until after the 2010 election.