In some parts of Boston, seventh and eight-graders live side by side with gang members and criminals wielding guns. It is an environment, they say, that forces them to think about what streets to avoid, how to flee if someone starts shooting, and how to avert your gaze so the gunman won't turn on you. They talk about such subjects with the same frequency and nonchalance that teenagers elsewhere might discuss their favorite Red Sox player or pop star.

When Mr. Bloomberg unveiled his budget a few weeks ago, he warned that no neighborhood would be spared in his struggle to plug a $5 billion gap. But in making steep across-the-board cuts to dozens of agencies and programs, it was almost inevitable that they would fall heaviest on some neighborhoods. And if there is one place that for sheer density and variety of affected services is the epicenter of budget pain, it is a tiny slice of Brooklyn covering six blocks by eight blocks, straddling Gowanus, Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill, according to an analysis by The New York Times of the location of the facilities already singled out for closing.

When Mr. Bloomberg unveiled his budget a few weeks ago, he warned that no neighborhood would be spared in his struggle to plug a $5 billion gap. But in making steep across-the-board cuts to dozens of agencies and programs, it was almost inevitable that they would fall heaviest on some neighborhoods. And if there is one place that for sheer density and variety of affected services is the epicenter of budget pain, it is a tiny slice of Brooklyn covering six blocks by eight blocks, straddling Gowanus, Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill, according to an analysis by The New York Times of the location of the facilities already singled out for closing.

Why is Mayor Gavin Newsom proposing cuts to mental health treatment for those with the most serious mental illness? One block from where the mayor announced that cuts to mental health programs would be small, at the offices of the Citywide Case Management and Community Focus, we learned that we would lose 38 percent of our total budget.

Why is Mayor Gavin Newsom proposing cuts to mental health treatment for those with the most serious mental illness? One block from where the mayor announced that cuts to mental health programs would be small, at the offices of the Citywide Case Management and Community Focus, we learned that we would lose 38 percent of our total budget.

Before my grandfather died of cancer, I helped my grandmother care for him in their home. For more than a decade, I managed health care and other financial issues for my disabled brother until his death. I also assisted with some of my grandmother's financial affairs in the years leading up to her passing. I'm currently the trustee for an older aunt. With this experience, you would think it would be easy to talk to yet another adult about his care. But it's often not easy to get someone who has been living independently to open up, especially about finances.

Before my grandfather died of cancer, I helped my grandmother care for him in their home. For more than a decade, I managed health care and other financial issues for my disabled brother until his death. I also assisted with some of my grandmother's financial affairs in the years leading up to her passing. I'm currently the trustee for an older aunt. With this experience, you would think it would be easy to talk to yet another adult about his care. But it's often not easy to get someone who has been living independently to open up, especially about finances.

Can a $50 stack of paperback books do as much for a child's academic fortunes as a $3,000 stint in summer school? An experimental program in seven states may help answer that question this summer as districts from Nevada to South Carolina give thousands of low-income students an armful of free books.

Can a $50 stack of paperback books do as much for a child's academic fortunes as a $3,000 stint in summer school? An experimental program in seven states may help answer that question this summer as districts from Nevada to South Carolina give thousands of low-income students an armful of free books.

Not so long ago, Memphis, a city where a majority of the residents are black, was a symbol of a South where racial history no longer tightly constrained the choices of a rising black working and middle class. Now this city epitomizes something more grim: How rising unemployment and growing foreclosures in the recession have combined to destroy black wealth and income and erase two decades of slow progress.

Not so long ago, Memphis, a city where a majority of the residents are black, was a symbol of a South where racial history no longer tightly constrained the choices of a rising black working and middle class. Now this city epitomizes something more grim: How rising unemployment and growing foreclosures in the recession have combined to destroy black wealth and income and erase two decades of slow progress.

Gracie Lynn Johnson was born with devastating medical problems, to an overburdened mother with psychological issues. It all added up to tragedy. Gracie is dead and her mother is in the Sacramento County Jail, charged with felony child endangerment. The scenario is all too common to authorities who investigate and document child deaths in Sacramento County. "Medically fragile" children like Gracie, they said, are highly vulnerable.

Gracie Lynn Johnson was born with devastating medical problems, to an overburdened mother with psychological issues. It all added up to tragedy. Gracie is dead and her mother is in the Sacramento County Jail, charged with felony child endangerment. The scenario is all too common to authorities who investigate and document child deaths in Sacramento County. "Medically fragile" children like Gracie, they said, are highly vulnerable.

Inside a warehouse in south Sacramento, dozens of hands fly across an assembly line, filling food boxes and smashing stereotypes. This is the poor helping the poor. The hands belong to people like Alton and Holly Ford, who fell on hard times recently and started eating lunch at the Loaves & Fishes homeless complex on North C Street.

Inside a warehouse in south Sacramento, dozens of hands fly across an assembly line, filling food boxes and smashing stereotypes. This is the poor helping the poor. The hands belong to people like Alton and Holly Ford, who fell on hard times recently and started eating lunch at the Loaves & Fishes homeless complex on North C Street.

Three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court made it even harder to create racially integrated public schools in its decision on two closely related school integration plans in Seattle and Jefferson County, Ky., which includes Louisville. The court effectively ruled that while it is acceptable for school districts to create a school-assignment plan that promotes “diversity,” it was illegal to define this diversity solely in terms of race.

Three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court made it even harder to create racially integrated public schools in its decision on two closely related school integration plans in Seattle and Jefferson County, Ky., which includes Louisville. The court effectively ruled that while it is acceptable for school districts to create a school-assignment plan that promotes “diversity,” it was illegal to define this diversity solely in terms of race.

As part of a medical-legal partnership that began in 2002, lawyers work alongside doctors at four District clinics run by the hospital. Their shared goal is to overcome legal and social challenges that threaten the care of their patients-low-income children, predominantly African American, and virtually all covered by Medicaid.

As part of a medical-legal partnership that began in 2002, lawyers work alongside doctors at four District clinics run by the hospital. Their shared goal is to overcome legal and social challenges that threaten the care of their patients-low-income children, predominantly African American, and virtually all covered by Medicaid.

Health officials say one reason so many American kids are overweight is that few have a nearby place to play and exercise. Only about one in five homes have parks within a half-mile, and about the same number have a fitness or recreation center within that distance. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report also finds that fewer than one in five U.S. high school students get at least an hour of physical activity a day.