Urban News

(OAKLAND, Calif.) -- Oakland officials are considering returning to the use of pesticides in city parks because the city has not been able to implement a 1995 policy intended to prevent the widespread application of poisons in public places.

According to a report in the Oakland Tribune, the debate over pesticide use started last week at a meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission, and will likely wind up before a City Council committee in the next few weeks.

City gardeners want to start using Roundup Pro and other pesticides again to help with weed control, apparently because the Integrated Pest Management Policy -- adopted in 1995 -- has not done the job.

(PORTLAND, Maine) -- City Manager Joseph Gray reportedly plans to stick with a new rule that would keep religious displays, including menorahs and nativity scenes, out of the City Hall plaza while still allowing Christmas trees to be displayed there -- but Portland Mayor-elect James Cloutier said he may reconsider the rule.

Gray issued the rule last month, apparently in response to growing pressure on the plaza space from competing religious groups wanting to place holiday displays there. The rule permits "holiday trees" only in Ganley Plaza, Monument Square and Congress Square. Other displays -- religious or not -- would be permitted in nearby Lincoln Park.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that a manger scene in a public space in Pittsburgh was unconstitutional because it included a banner that read: "Glory to God in the Highest." The court said the banner endorsed Christianity.

However the court also ruled that a Christmas tree and a menorah could be displayed at Pittsburgh City Hall because they were not strictly religious symbols.

(FORT WORTH, Texas) -- City administrators in Irving, Texas, are looking into a proposal to build an 85,000-seat stadium for the Dallas Cowboys in Las Colinas, but according to a report in the Star-Telegram, the real estate agent who proposed the project said the idea is just in its preliminary stage -- and at least one other city says it stands a chance of getting a new stadium for the NFL franchise.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said that he wants to either renovate the 31-year-old Texas Stadium or relocate when the team's lease expires in 2008. Jones has also said that he wants to build a multipurpose environment around a new stadium, with hotels, offices and restaurants.

A Cowboys spokesman declined to comment on the Las Colinas site but said that other sites are still under consideration. Arlington and Grapevine have also floated proposals to build a stadium.

(MINNEAPOLIS) -- Mayor Randy Kelly announced last week that St. Paul, Minn., is on track to meet its goal of 5,000 additional homes by 2006, but some council members questioned whether the mayor's numbers are realistic, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Kelly told reporters that the city has clinched financing deals for 13 more affordable units, bringing 1,284 the number of units financed this year. He said that nearly one-quarter of those units will be affordable to low-wage earners -- complying with city policy requiring that 20 percent of new housing be within reach of families earning less than 30 percent to 50 percent of the metro area's median income.

The paper reported that housing advocates praised the announcement as a sign of the city's commitment -- and that the goal is within reach.

"I think that the mayor and the people at (the Planning and Economic Development Department) are taking the commitment pretty seriously," said Vic Rosenthal, executive director of Jewish Community Action. "We've done more this year than we have in the past eight years."

However, the paper reported that some city council members questioned whether the city has made as much progress as the mayor claimed. The bone of contention is whether housing units should be counted toward the goal when they are financed -- or when they are actually ready to be occupied.