* New Lease: The long-awaited reopening of...

* New Lease: The long-awaited reopening of Ellis Island is set for Sept. 8-9, Lee Iacocca, chairman emeritus of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, said in New York Tuesday. The island, through which at least one relative of 40% of all living Americans first passed on their way to the United States, has been undergoing a $128-million renovation since 1984. “Ellis Island is one of America’s most hallowed places,” Iacocca said.

* Firsthand Experience: Watergate-conspirator-turned-minister Chuck Colson laments what he calls a “general breakdown in character” in business, politics and the church. Colson, once an aide to Richard Nixon, told a group of evangelical Christians in Minnesota over the weekend: “Government has become such a big moneyed business, a person has to do anything to survive. But that’s not an excuse. Power corrupts. I know. I was there. I am Exhibit A.”

* Arts and Crafts: Fallen evangelist Jim Bakker, who has been making pottery behind bars, sent his 83-year-old father, Raleigh Bakker, a Father’s Day gift of a vase bearing a painting of the evangelist’s childhood home in Muskegon, Mich. Bakker, the founder of the PTL ministry, was convicted last year of fraud stemming from the way he raised money at PTL.

* Arrested: The 19-year-old son of Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson has been arrested on charges of assaulting a 30-year-old woman on the street. Maynard Holbrook Jackson III was charged with simple battery Monday after a sheriff’s deputy saw him pick up a friend, Maria Norma Duarte, and throw her to the ground, police said. Duarte received minor cuts on her arms and legs.