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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

OR Kids' Summer Meal Programs Expect a Busy Year

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Thursday, June 17, 2010   

PORTLAND, Ore. - More than 500 summer meal sites across Oregon serve neighborhoods where at least half the families live on incomes that are at 50 percent of the federal poverty level. This summer, with a record number of Oregonians receiving public assistance, they expect to be busy. Summer meal providers are also watching Congress for votes on the reauthorization, and possible expansion, of federal nutrition programs.

Patti Whitney-Wise, executive director of the Oregon Hunger Task Force, says the summer food programs are especially important when parents have to work.

"Many of them are working in low-wage jobs and they need a place for their kids to go in the summer. So, the summer food program is an anchor for a lot of children's programming during the summer."

All five members of the Oregon congressional delegation support reauthorizing the food programs, including the expansion plans. Jeff Kleen, a public policy advocate for the Oregon Food Bank, says Oregon lawmakers will also be instrumental in getting it funded.

"Representative Wu sits on the House Education and Labor Committee that has jurisdiction over this legislation; as well as Mr. Blumenauer, who's on the House Ways and Means Committee, and Senator Wyden, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, that's in a very similar role in that chamber."

While there is widespread support for reauthorizing the nutrition programs, the debate is about the funding level. President Obama has asked for an additional $10 billion over ten years. The current Senate proposal is $4.5 billion; while in the House, it is $7 billion to $8 billion.

Parents can locate summer food programs online at www.summerfoodoregon.org.



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