Urban News

(LOS ANGELES) -- It would seem that a sprawling urban area as large as Los Angeles would offer companies enough consumers that there is no limit on what they might be able to merchandise. That could be the reason behind the decision by a cellular phone company called T-Mobile to enter that market -- and extend services throughout California and into adjacent Nevada.

The San Jose Mercury says that with the entry of T-Mobile into the nation's most mobile of all markets -- southern California -- all six of the nation's major players in wireless communications are now doing business there.

T-Mobile is the merchandising arm of VoiceStream, a division of a German telecommunications giant. Currently VoiceStream is being used as a brand name for cellular service in much of this country, but it's slowly being re-named T-Mobile in all markets.

With the addition of the L.A.-Nevada markets, VoiceStream services are now available in 45 of the nation's 50 largest cities.

(WASHINGTON) -- Just in time for the height of the vacation travel season, the nation's capital has added another attraction, the International Spy Museum. Reporters -- including the Philadelphia Inquirer's Howard Shapiro -- who have gotten an advance look at the museum say it contains stuff that will make the heart of a dyed-in-the-wool espionage fan beat faster.

And, according to Shapiro, the place is bugged. That's right, in the heart of Washington, a city famous for intrigue and bugging -- move over, Richard Nixon and his plumbers unit -- is a museum where you can actually listen in on others in various parts of the building. About 20 minutes into the tour you are given a chance to spy on visitors who are just starting the tour and on people in several adjacent buildings.

So, if you visit the International Spy Museum in Washington, remember: "Loose lips sink ships." (Or did that phrase go out after World War Two ended?)

(CINCINNATI) -- The Cincinnati-area enclave of Covington, Ky., is in the midst of a debate about how to care for its growing homeless population. Covington, across the Ohio River from the Queen City, is a very historic place, but it has little, if any, identity, because it became part of the Cincinnati metroplex decades ago. Despite this, it's a separate city in a different state.

Now, according to the Enquirer, the city has enacted tougher homeless legislation that has many human rights advocates up in arms.

It seems that new language in city laws: cracks down on the lighting of fires anywhere in city parks, except in city-owned, marked grills; puts in place stricter penalties for violating park hours-of-operation rules; raises penalties for violations.

One activist tells the publication that the enactment of rules that make it a crime to camp out on the banks of the Ohio is tantamount to enacting a "hate law" against homeless people.

(CLEVELAND) -- The current head of the Cleveland school system, Chief Executive Officer Barbara Byrd-Bennett, is reportedly being courted by officials in New York City in an attempt to get her to move back to the Big Apple and become chancellor of schools there. The Cleveland Plain Dealer says that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a personal invitation for Byrd-Bennett to come check things out; she is scheduled to fly to NYC in the coming days.

Byrd-Bennett is a native of New York and only came to Cleveland four years ago, when she left the top position with New York City schools to come to Ohio. Now the reports would seem to indicate that New York wants her back.

Bloomberg assumed personal control of the flagging public schools in his city last month and wants to get a new chancellor of the reorganized districts in place by the start of the fall semester.