Swimmers' gripes unfounded

Opinion

Discussion

November 21, 2012

Swimmers' gripes unfounded

Charles Oliver charlesoliver@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Wed Nov 21, 2012, 06:00 AM EST

Parents of Huron High School’s girls swim team in Ann Arbor, Mich., say many of the swimmers are suffering from burning sensations, itching, nausea, dry skin and irritated eyes. The parents blame a new “liquid pool cover” system the high school recently bought that pumps isopropyl alcohol into the pool that the girls swim and practice in to help conserve water. Just one problem. School officials say they’ve never actually used the system because of technical difficulties. Parents and coaches of the boys swim team say they’ve experienced no unusual effects. Well, yeah, they aren’t a bunch of girls.

Donna Giustizia recently asked the Vaughn, Ontario, Canada, city council to cut down oaks on city property near an elementary school. She said some children in the school are allergic to nuts and the sight of acorns on the ground there could make them anxious. She also said that bullies might grab the acorns and use them to torment children with nut allergies.

In Washington, D.C., Calvin Coolidge High School Principal Thelma Jarrett and two staff members have been charged with beating up a fourth woman who used to work at the school. The alleged attack came while they were watching a high school football game.

Some 5,700 high school students taking a state history test in Victoria, Australia, may have been surprised to find that giant robots took part in the fighting during the Russian revolution. Test questions on the revolution were supposed to include an image of the painting “Storming the Winter Palace on 25th October 1917” by Nikolai Kochergin. Instead, the test had a copy of the painting that included a Marauder Battlemech from the wargame franchise BattleTech. According to press accounts, the original painting has no robots.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that air service has ended at the island of Akutan, despite the fact that a new $75.5 million airport opened there in September. Airport officials say they have no plans to resume air service any time soon. The island, which has just 75 full-time residents and another 1,000 or so transient workers, also has a brand new harbor built with $29 million in federal stimulus money. The harbor, however, is two miles from the nearest village, isn’t connected to the rest of the island by any roads, and the island’s largest employer says it may not use it.

The neighbors of one Wyoming, Mich., woman complained to police after finding a “male body part” carved into a tree in her yard. The woman said it was a joke her stepfather played on her. But police told her if she didn’t remove it they’d refer the case to the city attorney’s office for possible disorderly conduct charges.

New Jersey Transit officials are under fire for deciding to park many of their trains, including most of the newest ones, in low-lying areas that weather forecasters predicted would flood during Hurricane Sandy. Those floods damaged one-third of the system’s locomotives and a quarter of its passenger cars. Critics say the railroad should have parked the cars in higher areas out of any flood plains.

Charles Oliver is a staff writer for The Daily Citizen. Got a suggestion for It Couldn’t Happen Here? Email it to him at charlesoliver@daltoncitizen.com.

Text Only

Opinion

Search Results

Discussion

Swimmers' gripes unfounded

Site Map

Contact Us