EXTRA...

Yarmouth forcing 250 families out; Vacationers look closer to home; Ted's absence stalls bills

Ruling may force hundreds out of Cape Cod motels
Panel suspends owner's license

"No offense, but what have you been smoking? It's May on Cape Cod. Where are you going to find them housing?"
                  - Harry  MillerYARMOUTH - At the back of the motel room where Kerri Blackwell, her husband, and four young daughters have lived for more than a year, behind the mounds of laundry, the cans sorted for recycling, and the crib where the 10-month-old baby sleeps, the family has posted a handwritten sign.  It says: "Blackwell's Palace."

"It's not much, but it's the best we could find," said Kerri Blackwell, 37, who works at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts shop and says she cannot find a more affordable apartment in the area. "There should be a better place for us to live, but we can't afford the first month, last month, and security deposit to get in. Or the utilities. The rents we've seen are up to 2,000 a month."

The Blackwells don't want to leave the Cavalier Motel, but they may have no choice. Yesterday, the Board of Health in Yarmouth, citing a year-old law that prohibits motel owners from renting units beyond 30 consecutive days to customers without a permanent address, voted to suspend the motel's license, potentially forcing the Blackwells and 250 other low-income people from the Cavalier and two other motels in town... Globe.
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Vacationers look closer to home, Airfare up $150 over last year
Travel costs, exchange rates make excursions less grand for many

Once again, high gas prices, recession benefits Cape CodBarcelona is out, the Berkshires are in. Even Los Angeles will be too expensive as New Englanders feeling the pinch of the economy downsize summer vacation plans.  Put off by soaring airfares, record-high fuel prices, and weak exchange rates in Europe and Canada, more Americans are staying home - or closer to it. As a result, some New England vacation spots - from Bar Harbor inns in Maine to Old Sturbridge Village and Cape Cod in Massachusetts - already are seeing an increase in business. And tourism officials are launching advertising campaigns to remind residents of the inexpensive summer excursions available in their own backyards...

Vacations certainly have become more expensive - starting with surging airfare. Roundtrip flights to Europe are at least $150 more than last summer, according to Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, a Dallas-based consumer airline ticket research website. Last week, the cheapest prices for July flights between Boston and London were up 29 percent to $915, while flights to Paris were up 40 percent to $1,250.  Even US vacations are pricier. Domestic airfare on average costs 14 percent more than last summer... Globe.
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Kennedy's Absence Stalls Numerous Bills

The prospects for action on several pieces of legislation dimmed Monday as it became apparent that Edward M. Kennedy 's hospitalization will prevent him from returning before the Memorial Day recess.

Kennedy's unexpected absence from the Senate has extinguished hopes of passing a bill that would extend collective-bargaining rights to public safety employees (HR 980) and of resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of a major higher education overhaul (HR 4137, S 1642) before the weeklong break that begins May 23.

As chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Kennedy was a hands-on negotiator on those bills and others.  "He's an important part of closing deals," said a former Kennedy aide. "So if they weren't closed, then they might have to wait for his return"... CQ Politics.