NEW YORK -- Democrat Dennis Kucinich responded angrily Friday to a conversation overheard between Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards, in which the two spoke of limiting the number of candidates invited to participate in presidential forums.
"Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not...

The Bush administration said Saturday that senior advisers would recommend the president veto Senate legislation that would substantially increase funds for children's health insurance.
The legislation calls for a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. The revenue would be used to subsidize health insurance for children and some adults with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance on their own. Members of the Senate Finance Committee brokered a bipartisan agreement Friday that would add $35 billion to the program over the next five years. The Bush administration had instead recommend $5 billion.
The Senate legislation expands the State Children's Health Insurance Program beyond the original intent of the program, said White House Spokesman Tony Fratto.
"It's clear that it will have the effect of encouraging many to drop private coverage -- purchased either through their employer or with their own resources -- to go on the government-subsidized program," Fratto said. "Tax increases are neither necessary nor advisable....

Step One. Delay. If there is one word that sums up the way to destroy an African American city after a disaster, that word is DELAY. If you are in doubt about any of the following steps – just remember to delay and you will probably be doing the right thing. (Multnomah County, are you reading this?)

Step Two. When a disaster is coming, do not arrange a public evacuation. Rely only on individual resources. People with cars and money for hotels will leave. The elderly, the disabled and the poor will not be able to leave. Most of those without cars – 25 percent of households in New Orleans, overwhelmingly African Americans – will not be able to leave. Most of the working poor, overwhelmingly African American, will not be able to leave. Many will then permanently accuse the victims who were left behind of creating their own human disaster because of their own poor planning. It is critical to start by having people blame the victims for their own problems. (It is imperative that trusting relationships be cultivated and established before a disaster occurs. Create a community emergency exercise.)

Like a picture perfect painting of American life, evenings at McCoy Park in New Columbia have been a gathering spot for the neighborhood's residents. Mothers and fathers are out congregating at the covered picnic areas; residents are tending their community garden; and children are everywhere – on bikes, on the playground, on the basketball court and on the climbing wall.

Washington D.C. — Civil rights leaders predicted the recent Supreme Court decision regarding race in public schools, but they are dismayed by last week's high court decision nonetheless.
On June 28, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision to limit the voluntary use of race in public school desegregation, in effect undermining the spirit of Brown v. Board of Education.
"What the court did today is unfortunate. This is not a good day for our country," says Ted Shaw, director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund outside the court last Thursday. "The court … walks away from both the spirit and the substance of Brown and in one fell swoop overturns years of precedent."
However, the ruling is not a complete overturn of desegregation programs, Shaw added.
"The court did not, under any reading, ban all considerations of race in elementary and secondary school education," he said. "This decision today is a mile post, not an end point. This does not mean that we will be done with the issue of racial justice in this country."

Oregon's first elected African American female senator is leaving politics for a career in higher education.
Sen. Avel Gordly, I-inner N/NE Portland, announced late last week that she will not seek re-election when her term ends in 2009. Instead, the senator who has championed quality education for all children will join her alma mater, Portland State University, as an adjunct assistant professor in the Black Studies department, where she will "focus on understanding and fostering the development of African American servant leadership and public service."
Gordly, who recently gifted nearly 30 years of her personal papers to the PSU Library and the Department of Black Studies, quotes Nelson Mandela when talking about her move from politics to higher education: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

Driving around with a bus full of teenagers isn't most TriMet bus drivers' dream job, but for A.K. Rucker, it sure comes close.
During the summer, Rucker is in charge of the First Step cleanup crew, a group of about 20 teenagers who spend their summer picking up litter on about every major bus line in the city. On an average day, the crew will collect 75 33-gallon garbage bags, as much trash as a typical family might throw away in six months.

Read here a day-by-day diary of free community events to fill your week...

The Total Experience Gospel Choir performs at the Rainier Valley Link Light Rail Block Party on June 30 to celebrate the progress being made on the light rail system, which will begin operating in 2009 with service to Downtown Seattle, South Seattle and Tukwila. By the end of 2009, the Link light rail will run all the way to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The Seattle School Board is considering a proposal to name the new building housing Garfield High School's auditorium, music room, athletic facilities and locker rooms in honor of alumnus Quincy Jones, a graduate of Garfield's class of 1950.
In 1983, Seattle Public Schools honored the award-winning Jones by naming the Garfield auditorium the Quincy Jones Auditorium.