A prayer vote in Lancaster

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris calmed many of his critics by apologizing last week to "anyone who felt excluded" when he spoke of trying to make the Antelope Valley city a "Christian community." Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

But the dispute about Lancaster's unusual mix of politics and religion seems unlikely to cool down anytime soon.

The flap over Parris' comment in January has drawn attention to an April 13 ballot measure which asks Lancaster voters to affirm a long-standing policy of opening city government meetings with an invocation one that historically has been delivered by a Christian leader.