An F in Civics: Missouri Gov. John...

An F in Civics: Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft apologized Friday in Jefferson City, Mo., for his wife Janet’s after-hours use of the state library on Mother’s Day so she and their son, Andy, 12, could do his homework. “If anybody’s been offended, I’m pleased to apologize to them,” Ashcroft said. The library is normally open only weekdays.

Family Politics: Aileen Getty, granddaughter of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, said her artwork is a little too subversive for her relatives. “Eccentricity runs rampant in our family, but the art--well it’s put me at odds with the family,” said Getty, 30. “The Gettys are corporate-minded, and this doesn’t go down well.” Her exhibit, which opened recently in a Los Angeles gallery, is a set of collages of excerpts from the FBI’s internal glossary. “My work says that only when you mistrust, doubt and question learned truth, can the truth be learned.”

Back at It: Former Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox, whose name became synonymous with Southern segregationist defiance in the 1960s, is back campaigning for his old job. But he said good government--not race--is his issue now. Maddox, 74, is one of five candidates seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the state’s July 17 primary.

Resisting Riches: The creator of the syndicated comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” is fighting the commercialization and marketing of his characters. William Watterson II, speaking at Sunday’s commencement at his alma mater, Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, says he doesn’t want Calvin, the sage 6-year-old, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, turned into toys. “There are no good ways to sell yourself out,” said Watterson, a 1980 Kenyon grad.