Presidential power: Barbara Bush values her independence....

Presidential power: Barbara Bush values her independence. The First Lady provided that insight when she told a charity dinner in New York recently that President Bush has never told her what, or what not, to say. And, she warned, “He’d better not.”

More cayenne, please: It’s still not too hot in the kitchen for Julia Child. In fact, the gourmet chef says she wants to spend more time there, so her current, 511-page cookbook, “The Way to Cook,” will be her last. “I’ve been tied up since ’82 with this cookbook,” she says. “I haven’t been able to do anything else.”

Birthday with strings: Josef Gingold’s neighbors may never forget his 80th birthday when the music professor awakes to a lawn crammed with 300 former students bidding him good wishes on violins. Gingold, a professor emeritus of violin at Indiana University, celebrates his birthday next Monday. The former students are coming from around the world to Bloomington, Ind., to honor him with their rendition of “Happy Birthday to You.”

Bubble, bubble, toil, trouble: Parents Sue and Monte Mutschler are trying to ban a children’s book from a Billings, Mont., elementary school because it refers to witches, and witches “are part of the satanic church.” A committee of editors is considering the proposal, but Roald Dahl, the well-known British author of the book, “The Witches,” called it “a fantasy.” The controversy comes a week after parents in Maryland and Texas urged school officials to limit observance of Halloween because they said the holiday is linked to devil worship.