From my colleague Brian Tumulty at Gannett News Service:

Hillary Clinton referred to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s June 1968 assassination while he was running for the presidential nomination as part of the reason she is still in the race.

In an appearance before the editorial board of the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader this afternoon, she noted that her husband did not wrap up the Democratic nomination in 1992 until the California primary was held in mid-June.

“And we all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California,’’ she added.

Responding to questions about why she’s being pressured to get out, Clinton said she could not understand why she was being pressured to get out.

Her offhanded comment – which indirectly raised the possibility that Barack Obama, the Democratic front-runner, might also be assassinated – drew a quick rebuke from Obama’s campaign.

“Sen. Clinton’s statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign,’’ stated Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

Later Clinton issued a statement that read in part: The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy and I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that, whatsoever.”

PHOTO: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks to supporters during a rally in Sunrise, Fla., on Wednesday. (AP Photo by J. Pat Carter)

are beautiful in Mahopac.

Students from Tess Zinzi’s art classes at the Austin Road Elementary School drew the sketches; the staff at Kidz Country Learning Day Center painted four (beautiful) trash cans.

You can see them at the shops at Lake Plaza on Route 6.

From Walt Thompson and Keep Putnam Beautiful.

This last comment by the controversial preacher, John Hagee, was apparently too much: Hitler sent to help Jews reach the promised land.

Sen. John McCain has rejected Hagee’s endorement.

Here’s more from the Associated Press:

UNION CITY, Calif. (AP) — Republican John McCain has rejected the endorsement of an influential Texas televangelist criticized for his anti-Catholic views.
John Hagee, the Texas preacher, withdrew his endorsement at the same time.
McCain issued a statement after audio surfaced in which Hagee said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land.
McCain said in a statement: “Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.”
Hagee also issued a statement saying he was tired of baseless attacks and he was removing himself from any active role in the 2008 campaign.

FILE PHOTO: In this Feb. 27, photo Republican presidential hopeful, Sen. John McCain, speaks at a press conference with the Rev. John Hagee. Hagee apologized to Catholics last week for his stinging criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and for having “emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews.” (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Today, I wrote about how difficult it is to cover a suicide, especially the death of someone as young as 14-year-old Akshay Menon of Scarsdale.

Here are a few additional thoughts.

Scarsdale students quickly began posting on Facebook and now one has added a video on teen suicide and how to get help. Another gives the upcoming dates for suicide prevention walks: overnight in Brooklyn and Manhattan on June 7-8 and on Oct. 5 at Croton Point Park. More “here”:http://www.theovernight.org and “here”:http://www.outofthedarkness.org. Two thoughtful responses.

William Cipriani, the coordinator of the child and adolescent outpatient unit at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Harrison and whom I quoted today, also had this to say:

“Kids especially kill themselves because they see no hope and because, alienated as they are, they cannot access those adults in their lives who might ultimately help them. The adults, for their part, do not always know how to make themselves available, to be there without being intrusive and controlling. It’s a rough time for everyone.”

And finally experts advise reporters never to glamorize suicide, to make clear suicide is not the inexplicable act of someone who is otherwise healthy and high achieving.

That last recommendation is very difficult to follow. Relatives and friends are rarely prepared to talk about a loved one’s problems immediately after they have died.

My colleague, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, did manage to offer a full picture of the life of 27-year-old Ganesh Santhanakrishnan of Ossining, who leapt from the middle of the Tappan Zee Bridge.

In an article last month, she recounted how the young man arrived in the United States from India six years ago to pursue graduate studies in computer science but by the time he died had descended into a mental abyss.

At one point she asked his cousin, Had he suggested Santhanakrishnan see a doctor?

“No. How can you ask a normal person to do that? He was a state rank holder in school,” Balaraman Venkataraman said. “He was having a hard time with his job search, and we thought he would feel better when he found one.”

How many of us can appreciate his dilemma. In different words, you can hear very similar sentiments being expressed by the students in Scarsdale this week.

During summer of 1991, the New York Times reported on allegations that a Boston University dean had plagiarized an article by a PBS film critic for a graduation speech.

There was one problem.

The article itself plagiarized—from the Boston Globe.

”(T)he Times article included a passage of five paragraphs that closely resembled five paragraphs in the Globe article,” read the Times Editor’s Note of July 11, 1991. “The passage involved comparisons of the same set of quotations from the disputed texts. Although the Times article also reflected independent investigation of the controversy and interviews by the Times reporter, it was in this instance improperly dependent on the Globe account.”

Today my column is about plagiarism in the Ossining schools. Some cases are very straight forward, others less so and as the Times example shows, even professionals can get tripped up.

On the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton at the Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto, Ky., today:

“You know all those people on TV who are telling you and everybody else that this race is over and I should, you know, just be, you know, graceful and say, ‘Oh, it’s over,’ even though I’ve won more votes.

“Those are all people who have a job. Those are all people who have health care. Those are all people who can afford to send their kids to college. Those are all people who can pay whatever is charged at the gas pump.

“They’re not the people I’m running to be a champion for. I’m running to be a champion for all of you and your children and your grandchildren.”
—Quote from Ellen Wulfhorst at Reuters.
—Photo: Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., rallies supporters on the eve of the Kentucky primary Monday, May 19, 2008 in  Louisville, Kentucky. (AP Photo/Brian Bohannon)

The cubicle is 40 years old this year and so for tomorrow, I write about mine.

Here it is:

The inventor of the cubicle thought that sectioning off a large open area would encourage productivity among workers.

Then came the Dilbert phenomenon.

Dilbert’s creator, Scott Adams, later helped to design the ultimate cubicle.

“I started out with the basic needs—eat, sleep, avoid the boss,” he told CNN in 2001.

Eloise officially returned to the Plaza today.

The portrait of the hotel’s famous fictional residenct was unveiled in the renovated hotel. Jordana Beatty, the 9-year-old actress who will play Eloise in an upcoming movie, was on hand and in costume.

Here’s more from the Associated Press:

NEW YORK (AP) — Eloise, the Plaza hotel’s fictitious resident, has officially returned to the storied landmark following a $400 million renovation — with a portrait of the mischievous 6 year old prominently displayed near its famous Palm Court dining room.

On hand for the unveiling Wednesday was Jordana Beatty, the 9-year-old Australian actress who will play Eloise in the upcoming feature film adaptation of “Eloise in Paris,” opposite Uma Thurman.

“Children of all ages have been asking for Eloise and it is our pleasure to have her call The Plaza home once again,” said Shane Krige, the hotel’s general manager.

Eloise, known to fans worldwide from the children’s book by Kay Thompson, is an endearing fixture at the hotel.

An “Eloise” bubble bath, accompanied by milk and cookies, is available to all guests, and a children’s menu, which pictures Eloise on a tricycle, is available in all of The Plaza’s restaurants.

Jordana, who did not address the gathering, struck a similar pose for photographs as her character in the painting, who stands with an outstretched hand resting on a Corinthian column of the Palm Court.

The portrait was returned to its original spot on a wall outside the sumptuous restaurant, whose stained-glass ceiling, covered with plaster in the 1940s, was uncovered and restored during the two-year renovation.

The Plaza, a National Historic Landmark, first opened in 1907.

It officially reopened to the public on Sunday after its new owners, Elad Properties, converted the hotel’s original 805 guest rooms into 282 hotel rooms and 181 condominiums.

The hotel has a colorful and iconic past. Marilyn Monroe was photographed there, the Beatles stayed there and Frank Lloyd Wright lived there.

The hotel ballroom was the setting for Truman Capote’s “Black and White Ball” and the wedding of Richard Nixon’s daughter Julie.

Many movies have been shot there, including “North by Northwest,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “Crocodile Dundee” and “Home Alone 2.”

Room rates start at $1,000 a night.

PHOTOS:

Actress Jordana Beatty poses for photographers after the unveiling of a portrait of Kay Thompson’s character “Eloise” at the Plaza Hotel today in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The Plaza in 2005 (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

William F. Buckley Jr. and his wife, Patricia, attend Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball at the Plaza on Nov. 28, 1966. (AP Photo/David Pickoff)

The author John Grisham wrote a best-selling book called “The Innocent Man,” the story of two men wrongly convicted of a murder in Oklahoma and exonerated by the Innocence Projet.

Last week, Grisham was honored by the Innocence Project for his work. One of the men, Dennis Fritz, attended the benefit and as a jazz pianiest played “What a Wonderful World,” he danced with the murder victim’s mother. (The other man, Ron Williamson, died in 2004.)

The evening, the Innocence Project’s Second Annual Benefit, also honored the Mayer Brown law firm.

Here are two photos from the night—Jeffrey Deskovic, cleared of murdering a Peekskill High School classmate; and John Grisham with Dennis Fritz, Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, and the founders of the Innocence Project, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld.

..from John McCain.

Just in time to capitalize on McCain’s speech on global warming and his call for mandatory limits on greenhouse gases, an eco-friendly selection in the official John McCain store.

From polo shirts made from biodegradable fabric to organic cotton hats and shopping bags—at JohnMcCain.com