PONCHATOULA, La. -- The huge cross near Ponchatoula's downtown locomotive won't be covered with blazing white bulbs for this year's Christmas Lights Festival. Instead, a second bar has been added to display banners advertising citywide events.

The cross was highly noticeable last year. But the American Civil Liberties Union said it would sue if the cross was lit up again for the festival that opens Friday.

Mayor Bob Zabbia said city officials don't agree with the ACLU but realized that they probably would not win, and lawsuits are costly.

And, said Zabbia, "The law is the law. It doesn't make sense to fight something you're not going to win."

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Information from: The Daily Star, http://www.hammondstar.com

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)