Metro Briefing: New Jersey
RENTON: BILL SEEKS END OF POET POST Nearly a year since outrage over a Sept.
11 poem prompted calls to remove the state's poet laureate, Amiri Baraka,
the Assembly will consider a bill this week to abolish the position. Under
state law, Mr. Baraka, left, cannot be dismissed. Because he has refused to
step down, lawmakers want to eliminate the post. The Senate has already
approved a bill to dissolve the position, but both houses must agree on the
legislation. A spokesman for Gov. James E. McGreevey said the governor
supported the concept but wanted to see the final version of the bill before
agreeing to sign it. In his poem "Somebody Blew Up America," Mr. Baraka
implied that some Israelis had advance knowledge of the 2001 terrorist
attack on the World Trade Center. (AP)
NYTimes...
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