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Visitor center plan at vietnam site gets nod

By TIMES WIRES
Published October 19, 2007

WASHINGTON  

A design panel gave its blessing Thursday to an underground visitor center and exhibit space to accompany the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on a grassy patch of the National Mall. The 35,000-square-foot Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center is to be built between the Lincoln Memorial and the long, sloped wall of the Vietnam memorial. It will be almost entirely underground, an attempt to avoid overshadowing the wall and to reflect the simplicity of the memorial, with its more than 58,000 names etched in polished black granite. The plan calls for visitors to descend into the center and pass along ramps that take them deeper underground, reaching 31 feet at the lowest point. The shaft of an underground courtyard will let in natural light. As they descend, visitors will pass by exhibits that include items left behind at the memorial to remember those who died and photos of service members who died. There will also be a time line of the war. It is projected to cost as much as $100-million, with groundbreaking planned for 2010.

Heavy, man, no Woodstock funds

Republicans say Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton can forget about getting $1-million in taxpayer funds for a Woodstock museum. Presidential contender Clinton and Charles Schumer, Democratic senators from New York, want to earmark the federal money for a museum that would commemorate the 1969 music festival in their state. Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., moved Thursday to strip the earmark from a health and education spending bill on the Senate floor. They won a key 52-42 vote and the earmark was dropped. "Woodstock Museum is a shining example of what's wrong with Washington on pork-barrel, out-of-control spending," said John McCain, Arizona senator and Republican presidential hopeful.

Hastert leaving sooner, aides say

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will resign before his term ends 15 months from now, closing a 21-year career in Congress, Republican aides said Thursday. The Illinois Republican announced in August he would not seek re-election in 2008, but it was unclear whether he would finish his current term, which runs until January 2009. Aides, speaking on condition of anonymity because Hastert had not publicly announced his new plan, said he now has told colleagues he intends to leave late this year or early next year. That would mean a special election, probably in early 2008, in his Chicago-area district that includes Aurora and Elgin. Republicans would like to secure the seat ahead of the November 2008 election, which some fear will draw large numbers of Democratic voters unhappy with President Bush and the war.

Also

Abortion vote: By a 52-41 vote, the Senate blocked a bid by antiabortion forces to cut off money for clinics that provide family planning and other health services in addition to abortions.

[Last modified October 19, 2007, 01:17:34]