WASHINGTON, April 22 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- Daily news notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
We're ready to believe you -- Anyone who logged on to the Democrats.com Web site Thursday would have been shocked to see a representation of a political button -- red with black letters -- bearing the slogan "We Believe Cynthia" with a picture of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga.
In a recent appearance on a radio station in Berkeley, Calif., McKinney said: "We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on Sept. 11 ... What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of Sept. 11? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? ... What do they have to hide?"
The group is mounting a campaign to generate public support for McKinney, who provoked the ire of Democrats and Republicans alike with her suggestion the administration could have prevented the Sept. 11 terror attack.
Local boy makes good -- The University of Texas at El Paso has renamed its Center for Communications in honor of one of its most recognized and distinguished alumni: ABC News' Sam Donaldson.
The veteran newsman, who has led the network's White House coverage under several presidents and also co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program "This Week," graduated from UTEP in 1955 when the institution was still known as Texas Western College. He also hosts [email protected] -- a live Internet newscast, the first regularly scheduled web-based newscast produced by a major television network.
"For more than three decades, Sam Donaldson has been one of the most respected journalists in the country," UTEP President Diana Natalicio said. "Sam is a great professional role model, who has inspired our students through his tenacious reporting and journalistic conviction."
Movin' on out -- While Palestinian international headquarters remain under siege, the Washington office of the group has been put out on the street. The group was evicted from its Washington headquarters for nonpayment of rent, according to documents filed in Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
In January, the Palestine Liberation Organization landlord, One Thousand Connecticut Avenue Associates, filed a complaint for possession of real estate in D.C. Superior Court charging the group with failing to pay $8,145.54 in total rent due from Dec. 1, 2001 to Jan. 31, 2002, and other fees.
A lawyer for the group attempted to excuse the lack of payment in documents submitted to the court because of the "political and military situation in Palestine, and the Israeli authority withholding of approximately $450 million belonging to the State of Palestine" which made it difficult for the group to keep up the monthly payments.
Healthy, wealthy and wise -- The Council for Affordable Health Insurance and the Galen Institute, a health care policy organization, are bringing administration officials and insurance industry executives together to discuss how the changing workplace and increased consumer demand are changing the American health care system.
The seminar, "The Insurance Industry Responds to a Changing Market," will be held May 1 in Room 2253 of the Rayburn House Office Building. It begins at 10 a.m. Those participating include: Galen institute President Grace-Marie Turner; John S. Hoff, deputy assistant secretary of Health and Human Services; Fortis Health Care President Benjamin M. Cutler; and Acordia Vice President Kallijah R. L. Paraska.
Growing them young -- On Thursday President George W. Bush and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Whitman welcomed students from across the nation to the White House to honor their achievements in environmental protection.
The 2001 President's Environmental Youth Awards were presented to 30 students at a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House. "I want to thank so much the award winners for turning idealism into action; for taking a great spirit and love for our country and doing something about that spirit and love for our country. Communities are better as a result, but as importantly, you're providing a really good example of service," the president said.
This year's award recipients are from Pawcatuck, Conn.; Rooseveltown, N.Y.; Huntingdon, Pa.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Glen Ellyn, Ill.; Lubbock, Texas; Reeds Spring, Mo.; Lakewood, Colo.; Mesa, Ariz. and Skykomish, Wash.
Taking it to the streets -- Efforts by the National Action Network, a group affiliated with the Rev. Al Sharpton, to have the nation's TV satellite and cable broadcasting industry carry more African-American oriented programming, has shifted its sights onto New York-based Mediacom.
The Rev. Horace Sheffield, the president of NAN's Michigan chapter, says that their attempts to talk to Mediacom have been fruitless, leading them to pursue, according to a release, "direct action against Mediacom." At issue is what NAN calls the failure of some satellite and cable systems to carry The Word Network, "a religious network that broadcasts to millions of African Americans daily."
Before you go for the cinder -- Delegates to the Ohio Federation of Teachers 64th annual convention in Columbus are being asked "to walk over to the Statehouse and pay a visit to their state senators during lunch and other breaks in the meeting schedule."
The mission, according to a spokesman for the American Federation of Teachers, is "To persuade the Ohio Senate to amend H.B. 364, the charter school expansion bill passed by the House last month." The union wants the law to be changed to require greater accountability of the state's charter schools and is engaged in a postcard campaign, highlighting "dismal academic results and financial scandals at existing charter schools, and the diversion of $133 million in state and local tax dollars to the privately run schools." The three amendments sought by the union would: Delete the provisions that give tax-exempt, non-profit organizations the right to grant charters; halt charter school expansion in all Ohio school districts; send only state aid, not local property taxes, to charter schools.
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