In brief: Couple re-marrying after 48-year split

Buffalo, N.Y. – They got hitched while still in their teens, divorced 20 years and four children later, and are getting remarried after nearly a half-century apart.

For Lena Henderson and Roland Davis, both 85 years old, the second time around is finally here. The couple plans to get married again on Saturday, with four generations on hand to see it happen.

“It’s every child’s dream, every child who has ever been in a family where divorce has occurred, that your parents would come back together,” their youngest daughter, Renita Chadwick, said Tuesday as wedding preparations were in full swing.

“I’m just happy that we’re here,” said Davis, who recently moved to suburban Buffalo from Colorado, where he was living alone following the death of his second wife in January. Henderson also was widowed after re-marrying.

Davis proposed to Henderson over the phone around Easter and she accepted, even though they hadn’t seen each other since a family funeral in 1996. Before that, the two hadn’t been face-to-face since splitting up in 1964, though they had stayed in touch and kept up with each other’s lives through the children.

GOP leaders decide to allow farm bill to lapse

Washington – With Republicans badly split over farm subsidies and cutting food stamps, House GOP leaders Tuesday decided to drop plans to extend the current farm program for one year and instead will press for immediate help for drought-stricken livestock producers.

The decision comes as Republicans feel pressure to do something for drought-hit farmers and ranchers before Congress begins its summer recess.

The party remains stymied by internal divisions between conservatives and farm-state lawmakers on how to proceed with a broader renewal of farm subsidies and the food stamp program.

Republicans initially had announced plans to extend for one year the current farm and food programs, which expire on Sept. 30. But GOP leaders pulled that measure from today’s floor schedule amid continued resistance from many conservatives and after Democrats announced opposition to the measure.