Breaking news this afternoon:

A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the use of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments on Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected two legal challenges by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who claimed the references to God disrespect his religious beliefs.

“The Pledge is constitutional,” Judge Carlos Bea wrote for the majority in the 2-1 ruling. “The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our Republic was founded.”

Upon hearing of the decision, Newdow’s response was, “Oh man, what a bummer.”

President Obama will be parting ways with his Nobel Peace Prize money, donating it all to various causes:

Obama is giving a total of $750,000 to six groups that help kids go to college. Fisher’s House, which provides housing for families with loved ones at Veterans Administration hospitals, will receive $250,000, the White House said Thursday. And the Bush-Clinton Haiti Fund, for which two former presidents are raising money to rebuild earthquake-ravaged Haiti, will receive $200,000. The rest of the money will go to an array of other groups.

I’ve been tracking this developing story for several weeks, but the big news last night from Kansas City is still sobering. Nearly half of K.C. public schools will be shuttered:

The Kansas City school board narrowly approved a plan Wednesday night to close nearly half of the district’s schools in a desperate bid to avoid a potential bankruptcy. The board voted 5-4 after parents and community leaders made final pleas to spare the schools even as the beleaguered district seeks to erase a projected $50 million budget shortfall. The approved plan calls for shuttering 29 of 61 schools – a striking amount even as public school closures rise nationwide while the recession eats away at academic budgets.

…the district’s buildings are only half-full as its population has plummeted amid political squabbling and chronically abysmal test scores. The district’s enrollment of fewer than 18,000 students is about half of what the schools had a decade ago and just a quarter of its peak in the late 1960s. Many students have left for publicly funded charter schools, private and parochial schools and the suburbs. Fewer students means less money from the state.

On one hand, migrating populations and shifting demographics will always lead communities to adjust their priorities and assets. If school buildings are only half-full, then consolidation, though painful to alumni of a particular school, is a necessary step.

Further, it would not be taking a great risk here to say something to the effect, “Public schools have systemic problems.”

Instead, this morning I am thinking along a different track. Even as my heart goes out to those caught up in the decline and dysfunction in Kansas City, my mind turns once again to a great gospel-preaching pastor in Raleigh, N.C. Pastor J.D. Greear has been leading his church to create “joy in the city” (Acts 8:8) by seeking to serve people in creative and compassionate and costly ways — including muscular service within the struggling-to-thrive school systems:

This summer we have several opportunities arranged for the Summit and other congregations in the RDU area to come together and serve our community. This summer we are working with three of our local elementary schools to meet some of the needs that their principals and staff have identified. At some of these schools we will be repainting hallways and classrooms, scrapping chewing gum off of desks, removing staples from cork boards, refreshing landscaping, and many other tasks. We plan to have more than 1,000 volunteers serve these three schools over two days (July 11 & 12).

As a direct result, here is a word of thanks from someone within the school system:

Positioning the K.C. story together alongside the Raleigh story, let’s think like gospel-entrepreneurs.

In the spirit of Matthew 25, I believe that “the least of them” could be led, by God’s grace and for His glory, to discover the sweet aroma of Christ — after smelling the sweat of our brow as we serve them.

A class-act baseball player announced his retirement today:

The 1997 American League MVP signed a one-day contract with his former team Wednesday, then announced he’s ending his 14-year career. Garciaparra will become an analyst for ESPN.

“From the first day I had the thrill of putting on a Red Sox uniform and playing in front of all the great fans at Fenway Park, I have felt at home in Boston,” Garciaparra said in a release. “While I had the privilege of playing with other legendary teams, I always saw myself retiring in a Red Sox uniform.”

…Garciaparra spent the past five seasons with the Cubs, Dodgers, and A’s. The six-time All-Star had a .313 career average with 229 home runs and 936 RBIs.

You can see Garciaparra’s full stats here. My favorite Nomar trivia is that he is one of only 13 players in MLB history to smash two grand slams in one game. He is married to soccer star Mia Hamm.

The sequel to The Phantom of the Opera has officially arrived.

The professional critics’ reviews haven’t yet come in, but audiences at Tuesday’s world premiere in London of “Love Never Dies” – the sequel to Lloyd Webber’s global hit “Phantom of the Opera” – gave the show a standing ovation.

“Phantom” is a tale of gothic romance set in the Paris Opera that has been seen by 100 million people around the world since it opened in 1986. It is still playing in London and New York, where it is the longest running show in Broadway history.

“Love Never Dies” picks up the story 10 years on, with disfigured genius the Phantom relocated to the bright lights of New York’s Coney Island and still besotted with beautiful soprano Christine Daae.

One of the first dates I ever took my wife on was to see Phantom, then playing in Nashville. Sixteen years later, the rest is history.

Given the large number of private and parochial schools in the U.S., this type of story is sure to be played out repeatedly:

The archbishop of Denver on Tuesday defended a decision by a Catholic school not to allow two children to continue as students because their parents are a lesbian couple.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said it was a “painful situation,” but the decision by Sacred Heart of Jesus parish school in Boulder was in line with church teachings.

Chaput said the school told the parents that one of the children could complete kindergarten and the other could complete preschool, but neither could continue after that.

…In his written statement Tuesday, Chaput said the parents of Catholic school students are expected to agree with church beliefs, including those forbidding sex between anyone other than married, heterosexual couples.

“The church cannot change these teachings because, in the faith of Catholics, they are the teachings of Jesus Christ,” he said.

Early spring flowers poke through the ground in my front yard, and we haven’t seen a snowflake fall in three weeks. It is time for baseball.

Down in Florida and out in Arizona, established Major League Baseball players are warming up their arms and their bats, even as rookies and career journeymen are vying for the last few spots on the roster.

Before the season begins in the first week of April, what is a fan to do?

I’m reading a new baseball biography, Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend. It is the first “authorized” biography of Mays and is certainly the definitive account of the great slugger.

The author, James S. Hirsch, provides a wonderful account of Mays, giving all the sensational on-field accomplishments while also setting Mays in the historical context of U.S. history — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Here is an excerpt:

Mays’s career exquisitely overlapped one of the great social movements in American history–the modern civil rights era. One of the most recognized and admired black people of that period, Mays led by example, yet his role in the movement became the most controversial part of his legacy. In some quarters, he was scorned as a “do-nothing Negro” or an Uncle Tom for refusing to actively support civil rights or even to speak out when he himself was victimized or his hometown of Birmingham was terrorized. But Mays countered racial discrimination on his own terms in ways that he understood–as a role model who never drank or smoked, who avoided scandal, and who gave his time and money to children’s causes; as a player who excelled through discipline, preparation, and sacrifice; and as a man who brought Americans together through the force of his personality and his passion for the game. Mays knew his influence, particularly on the bigots. “I changed the hatred to laughter,” he said. “That’s what I think.”

Will Switzerland vote to provide public defenders to fish? If this story didn’t come from the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal, you would be justified in thinking it was a lark.

On Sunday, the Swiss will vote on a referendum that would compel all of Switzerland’s cantons to hire animal lawyers. The rationale: If people accused of mistreating animals can hire lawyers, the victims of such abuse are also entitled to representation. If Sunday’s referendum passes, animals will have the right to be represented by lawyers in court. If they cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed at government expense.

As part of the background to the story, the Journal tells about a big fish that didn’t get away:

Last month, Antoine Goetschel went to court here in defense of an unusual client: a 22-pound pike that had fought a fisherman for 10 minutes before surrendering. Mr. Goetschel is the official animal lawyer for the Swiss canton of Zurich, a sort of public defender who represents the interests of pets, farm animals and wildlife. He wound up with the pike as a client when animal-welfare groups filed a complaint alleging animal cruelty in the fish’s epic battle with an amateur angler.

The case emerged after a local newspaper photo showed the fisherman proudly showing off the four-foot-long fish—a scene that, to Mr. Goetschel, was reminiscent of a safari hunter with his foot perched on the head of a dead lion. “It is this Hemingway thinking,” he says. “Why should this be legal when other animals have to be slaughtered in a humane way?”

The case revolved around the idea that the pike suffered excessively because of how long it took for the angler to reel it in. Mr. Goetschel lost the case last month, but is considering an appeal. Any further court action would come too late for the pike, which has been eaten.

What do you think? Should animals have a state-funded public defender? What would the great Reformer from Switzerland, John Calvin, have thought about all this?

UPDATE (Sunday 1 PM EST): Swiss voters overwhelming rejected the idea.

Within a month of landing Kenneth Starr as its new president, Baylor University announced on Thursday that they will be receiving a $200 million anonymous gift:

The estate provision, announced Thursday, will be used to benefit medical research at the world’s largest Baptist university. Baylor officials say it’s the second-largest gift to a Texas college or university and ranks among the top 20 private gifts to higher education institutions in the country. They cite the most recent data reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The Missouri Senate, “voted unanimously Monday to rename the [Mark McGwire] section of interstate the Mark Twain Highway. The measure now goes to the House.”

A stretch of Interstate 70 in St. Louis was designated the Mark McGwire Highway in 1999, one year after the Cardinals slugger hit a then-record 70 home runs.

Republican Sen. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia asked if those getting the honors were alive or dead. Schaefer says it might be wise to name roads only for the deceased, because they can’t do something worth changing the name over one day.

Schaefer wins the award for common sense. Even without the issue of steroids, it always seemed silly to name a road after McGwire who, at the time of the naming, certainly wasn’t dead, or retired– or even forty.

For the record, I don’t think McGwire is going to lose any sleep over this. He is working hard in his new job as batting coach for the Cardinals.