Oakland Residents are Asked How the U.S. Would Be Different if Martin Luther King Were Still Alive.
-Alameda Times-Star

Marcus Moore, 22, San Francisco,electrical apprentice: “Not as much change would have happened. His assassination put him in a martyr status, where his convictions became that much stronger because he was willing to die for them. (His death) was able to move the community — and not just the African-American race, but … other races — because he was not just fighting for equal rights for African-Americans, it was for everyone.”

Related Headlines:
Confidant: King Would Have Been Saddened.
Racism still plays role in America
“The Awful Grace of God”: Robert Kennedy on MLK, April 4, 1968
Original King Kids of America struggles with changing times

Democratic Presidential Candidates Accused of Ignoring Public-Housing Issues
-Philadelphia Daily News

“Both Clinton and Obama offer housing proposals on their Web sites. In addition to her mortgage plan, which she announced in Philadelphia, Clinton lists housing priorities in her poverty plan and her “urban agenda.” Obama does the same in his poverty plan and his family plan. But experts said that they haven’t heard the candidates address many housing issues in depth. Beyond foreclosures, experts say, Philadelphia is grappling with a lack of money for public housing, limited resources for community development and a chronic homeless problem.”

Dr. Janet Speyrer: “New Orleans may be Immune to the Recession and Foreclosure Crisis.”
-The Daily Advertiser

“Money and jobs generated by Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts will likely shield the New Orleans region from a major blow in an expected national recession … Money and jobs generated by Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts will likely shield the New Orleans region from a major blow in an expected national recession … One factor that will keep New Orleans out of a recession’s depths is a plan to spend billions of dollars over the next five years on federally funded homeowner recovery programs and government infrastructure reconstruction, Speyrer said.”

Kyoto, Japan Launches New Green Power Certification System.
-Environment News Service

“The city of Kyoto, famous as the place where the world’s first climate change treaty requiring greenhouse gas reductions was agreed, has developed a way to reduce its own greenhouse gases. The Miyako Agenda21 Forum, an environmental partnership organization established by Kyoto City in collaboration with its citizens, businesses and surrounding local municipalities, has launched the Miyako Green Power Certification System.”

Boston Red Sox Beat the New York Yankees in Environmental Match-up
-New York Daily News

“The Boston Red Sox are going to bat for a greener planet, but New York’s baseball teams have not stepped up to the plate, a South Bronx distributor of portable solar-powered trash compactors says. The Red Sox recently placed the Earth-friendly compactors outside Boston’s historic Fenway Park, but the Mets and Yankees are sticking with traditional trash containers.”

Beijing’s new Olympic-inspired architecture
-Jerry Guo

“Beijing isn’t very Beijing-ish anymore. Just a decade ago, I could amble through the labyrinths of hutongs – narrow alleyways unique to the capital – and sip some cha at the neighborhood teahouse. Now I barely recognize the new Beijing. The sleepy outpost once considered the architectural backwater of Asia now rivals Shanghai and Hong Kong as a cosmopolitan juggernaut and its ambitions do not stop there. In the last few years, Beijing has snatched the attention of the world’s top architects away from the usual gang – New York, London, Paris – to power its metamorphosis at a frenetic pace that threatens to eclipse Dubai’s.”