Today is Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day, an official state holiday, though the Legislature - which doesn't take holidays - is in session. Legislative doings today include a joint hearing between JFAC and the House and Senate health and welfare committees in the Capitol Auditorium on Health & Welfare and Medicaid budgets, which runs from 8 to 11 a.m. There are also festivities for the holiday, including the official state observance, at noon in the Capitol Rotunda, at which Holocaust survivor Rose Beal will give the keynote address, Fidel Nshombo of the Republic of Congo will read original poetry, and Lt. Gov. Brad Little will formally proclaim the holiday. There also will be music, displays and a color guard.

Also planned for the holiday are service projects across the state to mark a national Day of Service; a "Feed the Dream" event at the Idaho Foodbank at which 240 volunteers will work in shifts all day to build 5,000 backpacks full of food for hungry Idaho children; and Boise State University events, including a march and rally today, and a week of activities including a performance by the Harlem Gospel Choir on Thursday and a free keynote address next Monday from Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles, the longtime pastor of the Monumental Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn.

Also, as it did last year, the Idaho Freedom Foundation has chosen the Martin Luther King holiday to sponsor a tea party rally at the Capitol. It's scheduled for 11 a.m. on the steps, and will include costumed historical figures. The group also plans afternoon workshops inside the capitol on such topics as "State Sovereignty & Nullification" and "Tea Party Youth Outreach."