New York: Plans for WTC site include tallest building

Plans for redeveloping the World Trade Center site include proposals for memorials on the tops of buildings and below ground, a garden and the tallest building in the world, a published report said.

Although it is not yet known which elements will make it into the final design, the director of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the agency charged with overseeing the redevelopment process, praised the new plans for their creativity, The New York Times reported Friday.

Calling them “astoundingly innovative, creative and exciting,” the director, Roland Betts, said he was not worried about raising expectations too high.

Six architecture teams were assigned to develop plans for the site in September after the original six plans were widely criticized for being unimaginative. The new plans will be presented in their final form next month.

Missouri: Show Me State picks Lewis and Clark quarter

Missouri announced Friday that the design for its new quarter-dollar will center on the explorers Lewis and Clark.

First lady Lori Hauser Holden said Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and a third figure will be depicted paddling on a river beneath St. Louis’ Gateway Arch. Above the arch is the phrase “Corps of Discovery.” The quarter is to begin circulation next year.

Mrs. Holden said 217,467 votes were cast in the design contest, mostly over the Internet, for five designs submitted to Missouri by the U.S. Mint.

She said the winning design was based on a concept by Columbia artist Paul Jackson, who has objected to the Mint’s redesign of work he submitted.

Jackson’s original included two figures and a canoe, not a wider boat. The Mint said it changed the design because the canoe was not historically accurate and the Lewis and Clark expedition included a large party.

Illinois: Breast-feeding mother loses some rights

A judge gave the state legal guardianship Friday of an 8-year-old boy whose mother was breast-feeding him as recently as July.

Lynn Stuckey, 34, will retain custody of the boy. Judge John DeLaMar said she had not abused the boy in any way but made bad decisions that could cause him long-term emotional harm.

The judge said the state Department of Children and Family Services would handle counseling or legal matters affecting the boy. Stuckey will continue to handle day-to-day care.

She said he stopped breast-feeding her son last summer.

DeLaMar said Stuckey’s most misguided decision was appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program to promote her philosophy of letting her son slowly wean himself from breast feeding. The program included footage of her breast-feeding the boy while reading to him.

The appearance created “almost prurient interest” and subjected her son to stress and emotional harm, the judge said.