January 10, 2005

Three mayors have been selected to serve on the National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics being housed at the Arizona State University in Tempe. The mayors are Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes, Laredo Mayor Elizabeth Flores, and Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory. The purpose of the National Task Force is to enhance educational achievement and opportunities for children of Hispanic decent and to influence education policy decisions that affect this population.

On December 21, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam dedicated a new city park in honor of former mayor Victor Ashe, a past president of the Conference of Mayors and now Ambassador to Poland. As a member of the Conference of Mayors, Ashe was the key leader in the efforts to gain federal support for local parks. He also is a Past President of the Conference of Mayors.

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson on December 10, 2004 signed a civil rights ordinance approved by the Louisville Metro city council that includes protections based on sexual orientation. The Associated Press reported that Abramson, deriding opponents of the gay rights bill, said, "This community will not tolerate the hateful politics of division and deception that some people, and unfortunately, some elected leaders prefer."

Louisville Metro council approved the ordinance December 9 by a 19-6 vote.

Mayor of Pittsburgh since 1994, Democrat Tom Murphy on December 22 announced he would not seek a fourth term. Murphy, 60, is the second longest serving mayor in the history of the Pennsylvania city. The mayor said he would serve out the rest of his current term, giving him twelve years in office. Only David L. Lawrence, mayor from 1944 to 1958, served in the office longer.

Billings (MT) Mayor Charles F. Tooley, at his city's 7th Annual Heroes Breakfast December 8, 2004 was awarded one of the Heroes Honors. In July 2003, Tooley was diagnosed with late stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Within days of this news, Tooley began an aggressive treatment of eight cycles of chemotherapy that took five months to complete. Throughout many months of treatment, Tooley didn-t miss one day of work or one meeting of the city council.

His award citation notes that Tooley shared his battle with the media and the people of Billings, dealing with his situation with great grace and humor, and a truly uplifting positive attitude.

The award says that for nearly ten years, Tooley has selflessly given of his time, talent and energies to bring state, national and even international recognition to the Magic City.

About 450 people attended the special breakfast ceremony.