Victims' families and others will gather and today at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan in New York City, the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, for the first time after the emotional and psychological turning point of last year's 10th anniversary.

At the Memorial Site in New York, there is a major change and move forward for ceremony at Ground Zero. It follows a last-minute breakthrough on a financial dispute that had halted progress on the September 11 museum. Mayor Bloomberg and New York Governor Cuomo announced an agreement that provides a forward for finishing the $700 million project "as soon as practicable.".

The commemoration itself is going to be different: For the first time, elected officials won't speak at an occasion that has allowed them a part of the spotlight. The National September 11th Memorial and Museum, led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as its board chairman,  announced in July2012 that this new ceremony format would include only relatives reading victims' names. Spokesmen for New Jersey Governor Christie and New York Governor Cuomo said the governors were fine with the memorial organizers' decision.

Both of the Presidential candidates have had their campaigns pull all of the TV commercials for today, a fitting way to pay respect to the victims and their families.

Political leaders still are welcome to attend the ceremony, and they are expected at the other commemorations, as well. President Obama  and first lady Michelle Obama plan to attend the Pentagon ceremony and visit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Vice President Biden and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar are expected to speak at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, at the site where the hijacked United Airlines plane went down following heroic action by the passengers. Flight 93 was the fourth plane to go down on September 11, 2001. The flight was en route to San Francisco from Newark, New Jersey, when it was hijacked, probably on a mission to crash the White House or the U.S. Capitol. The passengers and crew fought back, and the plane instead crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, less than 20 minutes by air from Washington, D.C., and the intended target.

Public and elected leaders from the mayor to presidents have spoken in the past years at the New York ceremony, reading texts ranging from parts of the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address to poems by John Donne and Langston Hughes.

For former New York City Governor George Pataki this change ends a 10-year experience that was deeply personal, as he was governor at the time of the attacks.

The Shanksville memorial to United Flight 93 is off the beaten track in very rural Western Pennsylvania. The area is completely open, with no enclosed building. There is only a walkway that ends in a wall with 40 names. However, the site has brought 350,000 visitors since it officially opened last year, the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The next phase of the project will be the visitors center, and walkways that connect the center to the memorial. There are plans to break ground in 2013 and officials hope to have it complete for the 13th anniversary of the attacks, September 11th, 2014. The final phase of construction will be an education center and the symbolic "Tower of Voices" with 40 wind chimes, each representing a person lost in the crash. At this time there is no projected completion date as organizers are still trying to raise the $5 million which is needed to fully finance the final stage.

Located at West and Morris Streets in Lower Manhattan, the tribute of lights comprised of 44 7,000 watt xenon light bulbs arranged into two 48-foot squares in the shape of the twin towers will again begin at sunset on 9/11 and burn brightly until sunrise on September 12th, 2012.

Other events in New York City to mark the 11th Anniversary include:

• The Annual Prayer Breakfast hosted by the Genesis Group happens Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Utica’s Hart’s Hill Inn. You do need a reservation, so call 792-7187. They’ll be collecting non-perishable food items for vets.
• At 9:15 am, there will be a wreath- laying ceremony at the Utica 9/11 Monument, Sherman Drive and Culver Ave.
• Also at 9:30, Herkimer County Community College will have a wreath-laying remembrance ceremony.
• The names of the NYC firefighters who died on 9/11 will be read at the Firemen and Police Memorial on the Parkway in Utica. That starts at noon.
• The 11th annual 9/11 Ceremony in New York Mills starts at the Fire House at 5:40 p.m. The Silent March goes to the 9/11 Memorial at 320 Main Street and all those attending are encouraged to carry an American flag. Refreshments will be served after the march.
• A 9/11 memorial service will be held in Troy at noon on September 9 at the Memorial Park on 112th Street and 1st Avenue in Lansingburgh. The memorial site recently added a 110 pound section of steel I-beam from one of the buildings themselves. Last year, the site was unveiled and dedicated, which was followed by a memorial service.

As usual, in many other parts of the world various events will be held, especially at the US Embassies in foreign countries.

The 9/11 Heroes Run was held this past Sunday in nearly 50 cities in the United States,  and five foreign countries. An estimated 25,000 people nationwide are expected to take part in the event. One tribute to the victims comes at Highland Memorial Park in Ocala, Florida, where 2,741 American flags, one for each of the attacks' victims, have been planted in a moving act of remembrance. A lawn at Georgia Tech was covered in Stars and Stripes to commemorate the 9/11 victims. The same tribute was formed at Victor Valley College in Victorville, California. At Texas Christian University, 2,977 American flags will be placed on the campus commons -- representing each person killed in the attacks. The TCU program is part of the 9/11 Never Forget Project.

Near Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, members of the Grapevine Fire Department and the 9-11 Memorial Foundation of Texas will mark the 11th anniversary of the attacks by ringing a bell at 7:46 a.m., the same time the first airliner struck the World Trade Center. The event will be held at the 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial on the airport's north side. After the bells toll, flags will be lowered to half staff until 5:30 p.m. The event will honor the flight crews, firefighters and others who gave their lives and service during a devastating attack. Tarrant County College is holding an annual memorial run in which fire and police cadets, college faculty and staff will climb up and down fire towers 21 times, which is equal to the 110 floors first responders had to negotiate to save lives in the World Trade Center.