Urban News

(NEW YORK) -- Still stunned by the events of Sept. 11, voters in the Big Apple went to the polls Tuesday to elect a new mayor. The campaign had been overshadowed by the terror attacks and was unusually subdued. By a narrow margin Republican Michael Bloomberg squeaked past his Democratic rival Mark Green.

In the final days of the campaign Mayor Rudolph Giuliani -- who became an international media figure in the wake of Sept. 11 and who had asked for a while to be allowed to stay on -- endorsed Bloomberg. That endorsement, according to MSNBC, brought the candidate from the political doldrums (a 40-point deficit in some polls) into a "neck and neck" race with Green and may have provided the slim margin of victory.

Green conceded in the wee small hours of Wednesday. Bloomberg is a billionaire media CEO who built his fortune by providing Wall Street news and comment via wire and radio.

(SEATTLE) -- The directors of Sound Transit, the three-county agency charged with overseeing mass transit in the Seattle area, say they are not retaliating against a group that recently sued it. The group claims otherwise. The regulatory body -- which the Seattle Post-Intelligencer characterizes having a record of "adjusting its budget upward in billion dollar increments -- is suing a non-profit group called Save Our Valley for $20,000 in stenographic charges.

Sound Transit says that the agency used taxpayer funds for copying and other "office expenses" in fighting the citizen group's lawsuit. It now wants the group, which lost its case, to pay its expenses. One member of the group told the publication that the transit agency certainly "must have made a lot of copies."

Save Our Valley had gone to court to block a proposed expansion of Seattle light rail, saying that the construction would not be fair to some minority groups.

(PHOENIX) -- A Phoenix resident thinks that Sunnyslope Mountain would be the perfect place for the hoisting of a permanent, massive American flag. Rodney Marquardt tells the Arizona Republic that since the mountain's slope is visible in much of the city and students at Sunnyslope High School have painted a massive "S" on it each year, why not put up the Stars and Stripes.

Technically, the mountain is part of the North Mountain Recreation Area, administered by the city of Phoenix. For the meanwhile Marquardt has put up a 9-by-17 foot flag on nearby private property. He is starting a petition drive to allow him to use public lands for the display.

(UNDATED) -- Two franchises may be dropped by Major League Baseball. The financially troubled baseball circuits just grew too quickly. With growing competition from other sports and astronomical overhead -- especially player salaries -- Montreal and Minnesota may soon be selling hot dogs and popcorn no more.

Commissioner Bud Selig announced that baseball's commissioners had agreed to drop two franchises. No specifics were outlined, though. Many pundits say that Montreal and Minnesota would be the likely candidates, but Oakland and Tampa Bay were being bandied about in earlier discussions.

MLB records show that if the actions were taken it would be the first downsizing of the leagues since 1899. There have been expansion teams, but no team has moved since the Senators went to Texas in 1972. By the way, if you go to the ballpark in Arlington, Texas, and look at the original Texas uniforms, you can still see the stitching for the word "Senators" underneath the new name.