Applications Sought for 2004 Federal Grants
Approximately $12.9-million will be available for grants in the 2004 round of the Technology Opportunities Program. Since 1994, the U.S. Department of Commerce program has awarded grants to nonprofit organizations and state and local governments for innovative technology projects in education,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Benton Foundation Spins Off Technology Unit
The Benton Foundation, in Washington, is spinning off its technology-policy activities to renew its focus on promoting communications policies and programming that serve the public interest. The foundation’s Digital Divide Network -- including its popular Digitaldivide e-mail discussion list --…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Housing Counselor Helps Low-Income Renters Move Toward Homeownership
Erie, Pa. David Pesch stands near the entrance to a make-shift classroom at the St. Martin Center, in Erie, Pa., surveying the 16 students who have gathered for his weekly class on homeownership. The students are an eclectic mix of young and old, black and white, male and female. But they share one…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
High Court Ruling May Affect Religious Aid
The U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled that states could withhold government-financed scholarships from students studying religion, a decision that could have implications for efforts to funnel federal and state money to religious groups that provide job training, education, and other services. By…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Salvation Army Sued Over Employee Policies
In what experts are calling the first legal challenge to the Bush administration’s plan to direct government money to religious groups, the New York Civil Liberties Union last week sued the Salvation Army, saying the charity illegally discriminates against its employees based on their religious…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
California Regulator Proposes Charity Rules
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has asked the state’s Legislature to pass several new laws to strengthen the state’s oversight of nonprofit groups and commercial fund raisers. The proposals would require nonprofit organizations with annual revenue of $500,000 or more to prepare financial…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Many groups are curbing their retirement benefits Last year, the United Way of America, the umbrella group for 1,400 local United Ways, infused $2-million into its pension plan -- three times the amount it had put in three years earlier -- to ensure that it could fulfill its obligations to workers…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Donation-Processing Charity Lost at Least $17.7-Million in Gifts
More than $17.7-million in charitable donations never made it to the intended recipients as a result of last summer’s implosion of PipeVine, a San Francisco nonprofit group that processed on-the-job contributions for companies, according to a court-ordered report. In a separate document, the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
‘Is It Real?’: A Museum’s Challenge
When the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis starting planning its Dinosphere exhibit, set to ALSO SEE:Coming of Age open in June, officials decided that nothing but the real thing would do when it came to dinosaur skeletons. In contrast to the practice at many museums of using reproductions of…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
A children’s museum seeks to woo youngsters and parentsThis summer, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis will open the doors on its $25-million Dinosphere, a huge, ALSO SEE:‘Is It Real?': A Museum’s Challenge enclosed dome that will house the bones of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex and other young…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor