Around the Nation

Coretta Scott King cancels appearances

ATLANTA — Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King, has canceled several public appearances in the past week, raising concerns about her health.

The United Church of Christ announced Friday that the civil rights matriarch would not be addressing the annual meeting of denomination’s General Synod yesterday as previously scheduled. The church cited “health issues” for the cancellation.

The King Center declined to comment about Mrs. King’s health, but she was briefly hospitalized in April for a heart condition.

At a tribute to the King family at the Georgia State Capitol on Tuesday, Mrs. King’s son, Martin Luther King III, said his mother is “doing well” and is only abiding by her doctor’s orders to limit her activities.

Pundit names Rove as CIA leak source

NEW YORK — Political pundit Lawrence O’Donnell says White House adviser Karl Rove is the government official who leaked the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame to the press.

Mr. O’Donnell said at a Friday taping of the syndicated show “The McLaughlin Group” that Mr. Rove, President Bush’s top political adviser and White House deputy chief of staff, would be revealed as the leaker in documents that Time magazine has agreed to turn over to a grand jury.

The panel is investigating the leak of Mrs. Plame’s name to various news outlets in 2004.

Time said Thursday it will turn over the records of reporter Matt Cooper, who along with New York Times reporter Judith Miller faces jail time for refusing to identify sources.

Kansas lawmakers miss deadline

TOPEKA, Kan. — The state Legislature missed a deadline imposed by the Kansas Supreme Court to increase spending on public schools, but negotiators returned to work yesterday morning in an effort to break the deadlock during the weekend.

The state’s highest court had directed legislators to provide an additional $143 million in education funding by July 1.

The court could order the state not to spend money on its schools until legislators comply. That situation could keep 445,000 students and 64,000 teachers and staff from returning to the classroom when the new school year starts in August.

There was no indication how the Supreme Court would react. Last year, it blocked a lower court ruling that would have closed schools, pending legislative action to fix constitutional flaws in the state’s school funding system.

From wire dispatches and staff reports