The Note

W A S H I N G T O N, June 14, 2004&#151;<br> -- NOTED NOW

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The conventions:

Steve LeBlanc of the Associated Press trumps Jennifer Rosinski's excellent Boston Herald article this morning on the state of negotiations between the Boston Police Patrolman's Association and the City of Boston. We realize when negotiations break off at 5:00 am the AP has the advantage.

The AP's up-to-the-minute account of stalled negotiations that will start up again on Wednesday: LINK

The Boston Herald's Rosinski's look at how the marathon negotiating session got underway yesterday: LINK

City negotiators and police worked through the night for resolution of their Fleet Center labor dispute, which temporarily delayed work on the site of the Democratic National Convention. The patrolmen have been working without a contract for two years. Negotiations are to resume Wednesday. The AP reports the standoff is taking it toll on the DNC. Each day of lost work is estimated to a cost of $100,000, in addition to stalled planning. LINK

The Boston Globe's Michael Levenson reports ''Mayor Menino gets involved with these agreements when it's the last of the ninth, when his presence is key to getting a deal done," according to spokesman Seth Gitell. The union wants a 16 percent to 18 percent raise over four years and has rejected Menino's offer of an 11.9 percent raise over four years. LINK

Casting Call: to all performers ages 5 to 18 with interest in performing at the Democratic National Convention reading The Note today. Submit an application and three- to four-minute videotape, audiotape or CD by Thursday to: Fleet Boston Celebrity Series, Att.: Student Performance at the DNC, 20 Park Plaza, Suite 1032, Boston, MA 02116. LINK

Visitors, and one Paul Revere impersonator in period dress, ooh and ahh over the structure that may signal Boston is on its way to "becoming a first-class city," but it isn't the convention site LINK

You may have seen an item or two in the New York tabloid gossip pages last week about Ed Koch and a big elephant roaming the Upper West Side. If you are still wondering what that was all about . . . wonder no more.

Today the New York City Host Committee is launching a television and radio ad campaign aimed at recruiting volunteers for this summer's big Republican bash. Both spots star the volunteer recruiter-in-chief, former Mayor Ed Koch. The ads will be running not just in the five boroughs but all throughout the tri-state region through mid-July.

From the press release:

"The TV spot featuring former Mayor Koch and Minnie (his 7,500 pound African elephant co-star) was filmed in various locations across New York City and continues to build on the Host Committee's message that urges New Yorkers to 'make nice' and volunteer to welcome the thousands of visitors who will be in town in August for the Republican Convention."

Here's the script for the 30 second television spot entitled, "No Parking:"

AUDIO

Ed Koch:

New York City-the greatest city in the worldNo wonder the Republicans are coming here for their National ConventionWhile they're here, make nice.Volunteer to show 'em the ropes.They won't know uptown from downtown.They've never ordered pizza by the slice.They don't know from alternate-side-of-the-street parking.Hey you.Move it. It's Tuesday.

ANNCR: Be a part of it. Apply to volunteer online at nyc2004.org. New York City residents, call 311 for more information.

Of course it couldn't really be a Sheekey production without the 311 plug.

The New York Times' Michael Slackman writes up the former Mayor Koch's star turn. LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: the battlegrounds:

Sen. Kerry will visit the Hilltop neighborhood of Columbus on Tuesday in his first public rally in Ohio since March. Says state Rep. Dan Stewart, "This is a big swing area. If (Kerry) wins the hearts and minds of the Hilltop, he's got a real good shot." LINK

Kerry also stops in Cincinnati on Tuesday. LINK

There's a war of words going on in the Columbus Dispatch between the Bush Administration and the Kerry camp. Last week, an Administration official told the paper that longer food lines in the Buckeye State might be because some people are "taking the easy way out." In response, Kerry slammed the Administration as "out of touch."

Along Florida's 1-4 corridor, Democrats are doing a better job at registering new voters than Republicans. LINK

And the Kerry campaign's ground presence is beginning to be felt, per the Sentinel's Mark Silva.

See also:

"Taleb Salhab, Orlando-based chairman of Florida's Arab-American Leadership Council, says sentiment has shifted among some 200,000 Arab-Americans living mainly in Central and South Florida. ' Traditionally, our community has been conservative, and over 70 percent voted for Bush," said Salhab, leading a voter-registration drive here Saturday. "This year, it's the exact opposite.'"

Florida Democrats will scrutinize ballots in November. LINK

Don't talk to Nevadans about how high fuel prices are putting a crimp on the economy: Las Vegas had its best April for tourism ever this year. LINK

The Des Moines Register's Jane Norman writes that the Medicare discount card fight is moving into Iowa, as Sens. Harkin and Grassley begin to spar over the new program. LINK

The Secretary of State in West Virginia will soon have "a couple of recommendations" for county clerks about how to eliminate the voting woes that "plagued" the May primary. LINK

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profiles a few local engineers who volunteered to go to Iraq and help restore electricity. LINK

A small town in Minnesota, Sleepy Eye, is working hard to adjust its school system to the large growing number of Hispanic children there, reports the St. Paul Pioneer Press. LINK

The Pioneer Press looks at how Minnesota's members of the U.S. Congress are seeking to permanently commemorate former President Reagan's death -- starting with Sen. Norm Coleman's idea to name the Pentagon after him. LINK

The politics of trade:

The Washington Post's Jonathan Weisman writes about the corporate tax bill, whose latest incarnation is expected to be drafted today in the House Ways and Means Committee, that repeals the export subsidy that set off the maelstrom in the World Trade Organization and replaces it with business tax breaks to take out the sting. LINK