Commencement, Christian-Style

Correspondents association president Ron Hutcheson sent out a letter to the membership yesterday, updating them on administration plans to remodel the White House press area. "First, deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin has offered his assurances that we will continue to have the same space we use today. The idea is to improve the existing space, not shrink it or move us out. He also made it clear in a meeting on Tuesday that the press corps will have a lot of influence in the timing and the scope of the work." The plan now is for a major upgrade starting in July -- at which point the press would relocate to the White House conference center at 726 Jackson Place. The Wonkette blog has the full text of the letter.

Denver Three Update

P. Solomon Banda writes for the Associated Press: "A lawyer for three activists removed from one of President Bush's town hall events said Thursday that the Secret Service has opened a criminal probe into whether the man who escorted them from the hall was impersonating an agent. "The man was dressed in a dark suit and wore an earpiece when he escorted the three from the March 21 event. The Secret Service has said it has determined the man was not one of its agents, but a staff member with the host committee."

Smokies Visit Canceled, But Trip Goes On

Nedra Pickler writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush canceled an Earth Day visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Friday because of bad weather. "White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the threat of hail and thunder storms would keep the president from visiting the park, but Air Force One still will make a brief stop at the airport in Townsend, Tenn., where Bush will make remarks on Earth Day. "Bush then plans to fly on to Texas, where he will spend the weekend at his ranch and then host Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Monday." The White House had promised a photo op of Bush doing some restoration work at the park. " 'I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty,' Bush, who spends hours during his down time clearing brush on his Texas ranch, told young people awarded for their environmental work at the White House on Thursday. "Looking forward to getting outside of Washington." I need to ask CBS News's Mark Knoller, who keeps track of such things: How many days has Bush spent entirely in Washington lately? Because it's not a lot.

Negroponte in the Oval

Katherine Shrader writes for the Associated Press: "Just 45 minutes after winning easy Senate approval, the incoming national intelligence director, John Negroponte, walked into the Oval Office to be sworn in." The unusually prompt White House ceremony was captured by White House photographers.

Energy Bill Watch

Justin Blum writes in The Washington Post that the energy bill passed by the House yesterday "focuses on conventional sources of energy and provides relatively little for conservation and alternative forms of energy." Doesn't sound like what Bush has been talking about lately, does it? "The House provided far more tax breaks to the oil and natural gas industry and less to alternative energy and efficiency than President Bush had proposed. Even so, the president believes the overall bill is 'largely consistent' with what he is seeking, spokesman Scott McClellan said."

Poll Watch

Will Lester writes for the Associated Press: "The president gets low marks from the public for his handling of energy problems, with 62 percent saying they disapprove. When he first took office, people were more inclined to say he would handle energy problems effectively." That's from a new AP/Ipsos poll. Gallup reports: "Half of all Americans, up from 38 percent four years ago, now say Bush is doing a poor job of protecting the nation's environment, but nearly 4 in 10 (39 percent) still say he is doing a good job."

Home Is Where the Blind Trust Is

Mark Silva writes in the Chicago Tribune with more about how Bush's official home address -- at least according to his tax return -- is a post office box in Chicago. "This is the downtown post office box of Northern Trust Corp., the Chicago-based, multinational holding company that manages hundreds of billions of dollars invested by clients -- including the president," Silva writes. "Sticklers for detail might notice that instructions for Internal Revenue Service Form 1040 explain how taxpayers should list their addresses. " 'If you have a P.O. Box, see Page 16,' the 1040 form advises. Page 16 is pretty clear: 'Enter your box number only if your post office does not deliver mail to your home.' "Yet the IRS maintains the president's papers are in order." Bush's legal residence, of course, is in Texas, which has no state income tax.

Spring Garden Tour

The annual White House Spring Garden Tour is this weekend. If you can't make it, check out this hot new White House video: Barney and Miss Beazley's Spring Garden Tour.