The investigation of six prominent television evangelists by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has stirred up a firestorm among political, religious, and nonprofit commentators.

While most have focused on the issue of government oversight of church finances, at least two blog writers are questioning the nonprofit watchdog group that is assisting Mr. Grassley’s examination.

The Trinity Foundation, a Christian charity in Dallas that investigates television evangelists, has reportedly turned over reams of evidence to Mr. Grassley. The group has also helped several newspapers and other news media uncover questionable activities at megachurches.

But Glenna Whitely, a columnist for the Dallas Observer, a weekly alternative newspaper, writes that the activities of the Trinity Foundation itself raises concerns. On her blog, Unfair Park, she...

New York’s proposal to become environmentally friendly, which includes reducing auto traffic by charging fees to drive in parts of Manhattan, has earned a lot of attention from the news media. But local nonprofit leaders are raising questions about it, reports City Limits, an urban-affairs magazine in Manhattan.

During a meet last month with members of Mayor Bloomberg’s administration, New York environmental organizations, community activists, clean-water groups, and others said that among other concerns, the proposal, known as PlaNYC, lacked ideas from charities and overall was more of a public-relations effort than sound policy.

Angela Sung, an official from the mayor’s office, defended the administration, saying that in the winter of 2006 it met with more than 100 advocacy organizations, held town hall meetings in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and other boroughs, and received 3,000...

A controversial farm bill that would affect antihunger groups at home and abroad is bogged down in the Senate.

The Associated Press reports that the $286-billion legislation is stalled as senators debate tax proposals and other issues.

Among other things, the legislation would set spending levels for federal food and nutrition programs run by the Department of Agriculture.

According to Bill Bolling, the executive director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the bill would significantly benefit food banks by allocating $4.3-billion over five years in new spending for food stamps and other programs.

“This bill represents a major step forward in bringing hope to the more than 1 million Georgians and 35 million Americans living on the brink of hunger,” he wrote Tuesday in an opinion article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The bill could also affect international aid...