MR. GORE'S NEIGHBORHOOD

Will the real Mr. Rogers please step forward? A smiling Vice President Gore put on a Mr. Rogers trademark cardigan and sat with the PBS star in front of a group of kids to accent his defense of public TV funding. House Speaker Newt Gingrich wants to cut off the flow of federal dollars to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He contends PBS should be able to compete in the marketplace because its top children's programs take in millions in merchandising revenues. Gore countered that the funding, which amounts to little more than $1 annually per American citizen, shelters PBS programming from the whims of politicians and the pressures of profit margins.WON'T YOU SURF MY WEBSITE? Starting today, voters can check out Mr. Rogers' brand new homepage on the World Wide Web (with special "King Friday" link) at https://www.pbs.org/nps/homepages/rogers.