Governor tapes ad to back seat belt use

NEW JERSEY
TRENTON -- "I'm New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, and I should be dead." So begins Corzine's public service announcement promoting seat belt use, which was released yesterday ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. The governor was critically injured in an April 12 car crash in which he wasn't wearing a seat belt. Corzine worked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on the message, taping it May 15 at the governor's mansion in Princeton, where he is recuperating. (AP)

NEBRASKA

LINCOLN -- The governor signed a bill yesterday repealing the planned breakup of the Omaha school district into three districts, largely along racial lines. The new plan will partner Omaha-area districts in a "learning community," where district borders will become less important and may be crossed regularly. A new council is supposed to help enact programs to encourage integration and achievement, especially among poorer children. Backers of the planned breakup, which passed last year, had said dividing the state's largest district would have given minorities control of their own school boards. The division was put on hold after lawsuits alleged that the new, smaller districts would amount to state-endorsed segregation. (AP)

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Which of the three living former presidents costs taxpayers the most money? The most recent to become a former president, Bill Clinton, according to the Congressional Research Service's figures. Clinton, who has a New York office and a worldwide charitable enterprise, is seeking $1.16 million in taxpayer money for fiscal 2008. That is more than double the amount requested by fellow Democrat Jimmy Carter and substantially more than that by Republican George H.W. Bush. (Washington Post)