| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| December 3, 2008 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 12 Number 13 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| Cutting Recess Time a Trend in Education |
|
After eating corn dogs or barbecue for lunch, Anitha McKenzie's third-grade students head straight to the computer lab to practice their math. Her students don't get recess at Hartley Elementary, an inner-city, majority-black school in Macon GA.
One of the reasons is that Hartley has no swing sets or slides. There's just an old basketball court that's missing its goals. The terrain is uneven, with a 10-foot embankment behind the building. But another reason Hartley has no recess is that the school is trying to get students to pass grade-level reading and math tests to meet goals under the No Child Left Behind law. The school didn't make it this past school year, and trying to catch up cuts into play time. Said McKenzie, "A lot of times in areas like this, so much emphasis is placed on testing, testing, testing. You want your children to be able to compete." A majority of children in Bibb, Houston, and Peach counties get from 15 to 30 minutes of recess most days, but there are students in schools who get much less or none at all. Among Bibb's 26 elementary schools, nine of them don't have recess. All nine are in the city, with high poverty rates and majority-black student populations. "Times are different," said Jacqueline Walden, a principal at Riley Elementary, which doesn't have recess. "There is not enough time in the day to do everything we need to do. If we have physical education, it's sufficient." Physical education keeps students active in a planned, skill-based program. Unstructured recess is an opportunity for kids to socialize, plan for themselves, and use imagination while being active. Cutting recess time is a growing trend across the country, but some education experts say that's a mistake. Having an outlet such as recess helps students focus in the classroom, they say, and it helps combat childhood obesity rates, which have skyrocketed since 1980. The 11 Bibb schools that offer more recess time, from 15 to 30 minutes most days, generally made NCLB goals this past spring, and they aren't considered low-income. Also, they are mostly schools that are majority-white or more diverse. Porter Elementary School in south Bibb County, for example, allots students about 20 minutes of recess each day, principal Russ Chesser said. "Kids have so much energy and they have no relief," Chesser said. "They need an opportunity to unwind to stay focused in the classroom and not fidget around." Also, his school doesn't have as many barriers. It has an active Parent Teacher Organization that raised money for new playground equipment, and the school has made Adequate Yearly Progress for seven years. Source: Macon Telegraph |
| New Center to Boost Knowledge on Underutilized Crops |
|
The formation of a Malaysia-based international body for gathering and promoting knowledge about underused crops was
announced on November 30. Crops for the Future will encourage investment and research into neglected and underused plant species -- such as Africa's baobab and marula trees -- for the benefit of the poor and the environment.
"There are thousands of crops that poor people rely on but are not commercialized," said Hannah Jaenicke, director of the International Center for Underutilized Crops (ICUC), which is merging with the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species to create the new body. "This is about promoting awareness and encouraging novel uses and marketing methods." ICUC, currently based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, says that Crops for the Future will be hosted by a joint venture between Bioversity International -- an NGO promoting the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity -- and UK-based Nottingham University's Malaysia campus. "This is a really exciting development," said Christine Ennew of Nottingham U. She said their agenda could "have major benefits for improved food security and the ability of food systems to adapt to climate change." Jaenicke added, "We will bridge the gap between science and the use and marketing of crops." Topics might include:
Source: Science & Development Network News |
| Chronic Health Problems Increase in Older Californians |
|
A growing number of older Californians have chronic health problems. For example, three out of five seniors in California had high blood pressure in 2005, up from half in 2001. Eleven counties saw statistically significant
increases in high blood pressure, according to a UCLA study released last month.
"If those trends continue ... we're going to come up against a wall as to what medicine can do to keep these people alive," said Steven Wallace, a UCLA professor of public health and coauthor of the report based on the California Health Interview Survey, which polls about 50,000 households across the state every two years. The study found that significant racial gaps remained. Diabetes and obesity are nearly twice as high for older African Americans and Latinos than whites. In addition, Asian American, black, and Latino seniors were three times as likely to report difficulty getting enough to eat. The numbers are worst in South Los Angeles and an eight-county area in the Central Valley, where one in four seniors reported being diagnosed with diabetes. Statewide, one in six seniors has diabetes, which is the fifth most common cause of death among older adults in the US. Tulare County in the Central Valley had the highest rate of hypertension, while South LA was a close second. In both locations, seven out of 10 residents reported high blood pressure. The rising number of seniors reporting the chronic conditions has healthcare providers and experts concerned. As baby boomers age, California's senior population is expected to double in the next two decades. Wallace said, "We're definitely not ready for a baby-boom generation that's sicker than the current population." In South LA, older residents easily tick off reasons why they and their neighbors fared poorly. "There are too many McDonald's and Taco Bells. There's only junk food around," said Martha Vivas, 62, a housekeeper at South Central Family Health Center in South LA. Vivas said she ate a lot of fast food before she was diagnosed with diabetes six years ago. She said she now avoids fast food and cooks at home. Fresh fruits and vegetables are not cheap and often are scarce in low-income South LA. In Central Valley communities, laborers pick fruits and vegetables to ship to markets across the nation, yet they are unable to buy them to eat in their own homes. Instead, they go to fast-food restaurants. Those with the lowest incomes are the hardest hit, said Laurie Primavera, associate director of the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at Cal State Fresno. Laborers "can't afford the medication; they can't afford the ongoing chronic disease management," Primavera said. "They don't have access to good food, and it's not safe for them to go out and be active." Source: Los Angeles Times |
| Dental Plan Overcharges Threaten Australia's Budget |
|
Dentists and their patients in Australia are abusing Medicare Dental to get unnecessary, excess, or aesthetic work done on their teeth while the neediest patients miss out, health groups say. The Dental scheme, introduced in
the dying days of the Howard government, was designed to provide up to $4,250 in private dental work such as extractions, fillings, and dentures for the chronically ill with poor oral health who could not afford to pay. But some dentists admit a significant proportion is being spent on treatment that improves appearance -- such as crowns, implants, bridges, and straightening and capping teeth -- but has little or no effect on the patient's overall health.
One Sydney dentist said that some "greedy" dentists were encouraging their patients to take advantage of the largely unregulated handout. "Patients who are technically eligible because they have a chronic illness come in with their referral and then request aesthetic work, and because there's no auditing or monitoring of what procedures are done, dentists are churning it out and getting a few thousand dollars a day out of the scheme." The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association and National Rural Health Alliance said their analysis of Medicare data showed that up to 40% of the funding had been spent on excessively invasive or unnecessary procedures, or crowns and implants that had a more aesthetic function, or for which there were cheaper alternatives. Cydde Miller, the association's policy manager, said, "We've found dentists are offering their patients expensive work like crowns or bridges when they could use a cheaper method and treat nine or 10 people for the same cost and an equal medical outcome." An unexpectedly high uptake of the taxpayer-funded scheme has caused a cost blowout that threatens to undermine the Rudd Government's budget unless the Senate can be persuaded to axe the program. Meanwhile, the health groups are saying that the program's intended targets -- indigenous people, the disadvantaged, and those in rural and remote areas with complex health needs -- have largely missed out. Almost 75% of procedures were in New South Wales, with smaller states virtually excluded. Miller said NSW metropolitan dentists tended to be corporatized and well-informed about the benefits their patients could take advantage of. Health minister Nicola Roxon said that another program, Labor's promised Commonwealth Dental Health Program, providing $290 million over three years to states and territories to clear public dental waiting lists, was on hold as the Government could not afford to fund both schemes. "Under the current program, pensioners suffering from a simple toothache can't get help -- but if those pensioners were multimillionaires instead, with chronic diseases, they would have no trouble." Source: Sydney Morning Herald |
| Sex-Offender Law Adds More Punishment, Says Court |
|
A voter-approved California law prohibiting sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or a park amounts to additional punishment for the offenders' original
crimes, a state appeals court has ruled in a case that could affect thousands of parolees. The ruling on November 19 by the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana was
the first by a California court to find that the residency restrictions in Proposition 83, a November 2006 initiative, are not just public safety measures but also would punish
ex-offenders by forcing them out of their homes.
Prop 83, called Jessica's Law by its sponsors, imposes "traditional banishment under another name," the court said. The ruling leaves the law in effect but could limit its application. The US Constitution forbids laws that retoactively impose criminal penalties or increase punishment for past offenses. Ernest Galvan, a lawyer for four men who are challenging Prop 83 before the state Supreme Court said that the state now is applying the 2,000-foot buffer zone requirement to any former sex offender who has been paroled since Prop 83 passed, even if the parolee committed a sex crime many years earlier and was serving a sentence for an unrelated crime. He said at least 2,000 parolees fall into that category, and the number is growing by hundreds each month. Prop 83, approved by 70% of the voters, increased sentences for various sex crimes and also barred all registered sex offenders -- whose crimes range from forcible rape to indecent exposure -- from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children regularly gather. State law previously prohibited only convicted child molesters from living within a quarter-mile of a school. Prop 83 makes most densely populated areas of California off limits to paroled sex criminals. In Wednesday's ruling, the appeals court overturned the residency restrictions on an Anaheim man who was convicted in 2007 of assaulting a 12-year-old girl four years earlier but acquitted of committing a lewd act. The trial judge nevertheless concluded that Mosley had committed a sex crime, ordered him to register with police as a sex offender, and barred him from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. In a 3-0 ruling, the appeals court said the judge's order would have been valid if the Prop 83 requirements were simply nonpunitive measures to protect the public. But because they have an "overwhelmingly punitive effect," the court said, they can be imposed only after a jury trial and conviction for a sex crime. That also means the restrictions can't be applied retroactively. Justice Raymond Ikola said that the law forces many parolees to leave their homes and keeps them under "constant threat of ouster" from their new residences if a new school or park opens nearby. Source: San Francisco Chronicle |
| Large Malaria Vaccine Test Starting Soon |
|
Billionaire Bill Gates and thousands of babies are helping Africa prepare its largest medical experiment ever in the search for a new vaccine against malaria. Researchers say
the push comes at a crucial time in the battle against a disease that has been beaten back several times before, only to resurge with deadly vigor.
For Dr Zena Mtajuka, a vaccine cannot come quickly enough. "Malaria is our number one killer in this district," said Mtajuka in her cramped office at Bagamoyo District Hospital, north of Tanzania's capital. "The hardest thing is that members of the community come to the hospital too late. It makes them harder to save." Bagamoyo is one of almost a dozen research sites where scientists are in the final stages of preparing for a large-scale efficacy and safety trial of the "RTS,S" vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC. The trial, which is expected to begin early next year and involve 16,000 children in seven African countries, is the largest ever undertaken on the continent. Its funders, including groups supported by the Gates Foundation, hope it will result in a new and effective strategy to fight the disease. Public health advocates have cited malaria as an emerging global health success story, with new drugs, bed nets, and insecticides contributing to sharp drops in infection rates in a number of countries. But the promotional campaigns have not made nets and sprayings universally available in Bagamoyo. "Some people are using bed nets, but not all of them," said Mtajuka. "Some are simply too poor to afford them. And since I've been here there's been no indoor spraying. I think we had it once, three years ago, but not since then." "Drugs and nets are going to assist, but I don't think that's a long-term solution," said Dr Norbert Peshu, director of the KEMRI Centre for Geographic Medicine Research in Kilifi, Kenya, another malaria hotspot. "The final thing against malaria has to be a vaccine." The RTS,S vaccine was identified as promising two decades ago, but it has only recently moved into widespread testing, thanks to funding from the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. RTS,S, named for the antigen it produces, fuses part of a protein from the parasite to the surface of a hepatitis-B viral particle, stimulating the body's immune response. This hobbles the parasite's ability to infect and develop in the liver, its main repository in humans, which gives partial protection against the disease. Source: Reuters |
| Grassroots Effort Brings Factory to Indian Reservation |
|
In the midst of a crumbling national economy and a local unemployment rate near 80%, residents of the Blackfeet reservation in Montana are bubbly optimists. Many of them
are keeping busy learning about and making preparations for a new blu-ray disc manufacturing plant that will be established in Starr School MT within the next year. The
plant would be a branch of Spokane-based Blue Ray Technologies, the largest independent manufacturer of blu-ray discs (a high-definition form of DVDs).
The plant will bring 150 new jobs to the reservation. And it all started with a prayer. According to Harold Dusty Bull, who served as an unofficial liaison between the company and the tribe, it began when his nephew went to Seattle for a minister's conference and met Erick Hansen, the CEO of Blue Ray Technologies, through Hansen's pastor. "Erick told him he wanted to bring his company to an Indian reservation, so my nephew invited him out," Dusty Bull said. "In July a group of us gave him a tour, he said it was the ideal place, and so we just jumped on the possibility from then on." Dusty Bull said he and three other men from the reservation who comprise the unofficial Blue Ray-tribe liaison flew to Spokane at their own expense in September to tour the manufacturing plant there and officially commit to trying to make the project happen. Without their commitment this wouldn't have gotten off the ground, according to Emorie Davis Bird, the planning and development director for the Blackfeet tribe. "The tribal government was not involved in this -- the community needs to be credited because those guys did all the leg work in having the company come out here," she said. "And that's what you want in a community -- for them to be organized and empowered and effect change like this." Dusty Bull said he was surprised by how active the community was when it came to the public meetings about the possible plant. And "when Erick came out to the reservation for a big dinner, to tell everyone that if you want me, I'm here, everyone in Starr's School cooked the whole meal -- they had roasts, corn, potatoes, the full 100 yards, and the community paid for every bit of it." Davis Bird said that on a reservation with a summer unemployment rate of 69% and a winter rate of 75% to 80%, the promise of 150 high-paying jobs with benefits cannot be overstated. "Because we have so much unemployment, there are a lot of people living on welfare, on food stamps," said single mother Lona Burns. "The school, the hospital, and the tribe are the three biggest employers, so if you don't work for one of those groups you have to find odd-and-end jobs on the rez." "We need to destroy poverty," said Dusty Bull, "and the only way we're going to do that is through revitalizing our reservation -- that's what I see this doing." Source: RezNet |
| # LNN # Small # Hauls # |
|
| Life-Net News Extras |
| Malaria Rates Plummet Among Kenyan Children |
|
A dramatic drop in the rates of severe childhood malaria in some regions of Kenya is posing new medical challenges as people in high-risk regions lose their immunity and transmission patterns alter, according to researchers. An analysis of data collected over 18 years from malaria-infected children at Kilifi District Hospital, on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, found that paediatric admissions for malaria had fallen by 75% over a period of just five years.
The data echo results from many other malaria-prone regions of Kenya, and the entire coastline of the east of the country, according to co-author Norbert Peshu, director of the Center for Geographic Medicine Research - Coast at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). The authors believe a major contributor to the drop in infections was the replacement of chloroquine with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Other interventions including the use of insecticide-treated bednets and artemisinin-based therapies could have contributed, they say, but the surge in their use came after the steep fall in transmission of the disease. The KEMRI data, published in The Lancet November 1, suggest that it is not until malaria parasites are infecting less than 20% of the population that the incidence of the disease falls. From there, it falls sharply. Shahnaaz Sharif, Kenya's acting director of public health and sanitation, warns that improvements in malaria infection rates commit governments to continued control and treatment. Sharif says that a resurgence of malaria would be "devastating" in communities that have lost their previous levels of immunity. An example of an at-risk group is children above the age of five. Malaria infection above this age is more likely to lead to cerebral malaria, which has a worse prognosis than the severe malarial anaemia that afflicts younger children. "Older children exposed to higher levels of transmission in early life might have a lower incidence of cerebral malaria than those who grew up in an area of low, stable endemicity," say the authors. Sharif said, "We need continued vigilance and emphasis on insecticide-treated nets, early treatment and other control measures to win the war against malaria." Source: Science & Development Network News |
| Re-Enlistment Rises As Job Market Falls |
|
More and more US military personnel are choosing to stay in the military because of the bleak economy. Sgt Ryan Nyhus, 21, said, "In the Army, you're always guaranteed a steady paycheck and a job."
In 2008, as the stock market cratered and the housing market collapsed, more young members of the Army, Air Force, and Navy decided to re-up. While several factors might explain the rise in re-enlistments, including a decline in violence in Iraq, Pentagon officials acknowledge that bad news for the economy is usually good news for the military. In fact, the Pentagon just completed its strongest recruiting year in four years. "We do benefit when things look less positive in civil society," said David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "What difficult economic times give us, I think, is an opening to make our case to people who we might not otherwise have." The retention rate of early-career soldiers in the Army has risen steadily over the past four years and now stands 20 percentage points higher than it was in fiscal 2004. As for the Navy and the Air Force, early- and mid-career sailors and airmen re-enlisted at a higher rate in October than during the same period in 2007. Alex Stewart joined the Army two years ago, when the factory where he worked as a welder started laying off. He was sent to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division, which suffered 87 deaths last year, the highest total suffered by the 20,000-member unit since the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan began. When his hitch was up earlier this year, the 32-year-old from Grand Rapids MI didn't hesitate to re-up for five more years. "I want a stable life for my wife in a very shaky economy," Stewart said. "There were no other options." Stewart's new assignment will take him to Germany, where he will serve as a truck driver, though it is always possible he could be sent back into combat. "I figure if I do another five or 10 years in the Army," he said, "the economy will turn around and I can get a truck-driving job." Army Spc Alicia Fauls, 20, of the Woodlands TX, had two years to go when she re-enlisted at Fort Riley, home of the Army's 1st Infantry Division, which has one brigade in Iraq, one headed home, and another preparing to ship out. She has not been sent into the war zone yet but knows an assignment in Iraq or Afghanistan is probably in her future. "I did have only two years left, but I'm not sure what I would do. It's harder to find jobs. If I do wait to get out, the economy should be in better shape." Source: Associated Press |
| Thinning Glaciers 'Endangering South Asian Water Supply' |
|
New evidence that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking has added weight to concerns that there could be severe water shortages in the region by 2030. Researchers drilling an ice core in the 6,050 meter-high Naimona'nyi glacier near Tibet were expecting to find radioactivity left by atomic tests carried out 50 years ago. Instead they found little more than background levels of radioactivity.
The scientists, from the Institute for Tibetan Plateau Research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Ohio State University, say that this is a sign that the glacier is thinning, with no accumulation of new ice since 1944.
Seasonal runoff from glaciers such as Naimona'nyi feeds the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra rivers in that part of the Asian subcontinent. The rivers are already severely depleted in places for months each year, say the researchers, writing in Geophysical Research Letters. The lack of new ice accumulating on the glaciers can only decrease river levels, they add. Current models predicting river flow in the region have taken recent glacial retreat into account, say the researchers. But they have not considered that some glaciers are also thinning. "If the thinning isn't included, then whatever strategies people adopt in their efforts to adapt to reductions in river flow simply won't work," says Natalie Kehrwald, a doctoral student at Ohio State University and lead author on the paper. The news comes in the same month that a major report from the UN Environment Program highlighted the role of 'atmospheric brown clouds' in melting the Hindu Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan glaciers, amongst other effects. The vast brown clouds, caused by the burning of fossil fuels and biomass, are now thought to be warming these elevated regions with a strength equal to that of greenhouse gases, says the report. The clouds could also be depositing black carbon on the snow and ice, causing them to absorb, rather than reflect, solar radiation -- and thus warm up. Source: Science & Development Network News |
| Racial Bias Targeted in Iowa Foster Care |
|
Iowans' personal biases result in more black children ending up in foster care, in the opinion of the state's top child welfare official. Gene Gessow said it's one of his priorities to fix the problem. The new director of the Department of Human Services, he added, "Within the next decade". That means people have to change their way of thinking, he said, and weed out factors that don't matter when it comes to abuse and neglect.
On November 21, Gessow announced an aggressive new campaign to encourage Iowans to examine their own racial biases. A new DHS Web site at HelpMakeNoDifference.com is devoted to the effort. It's up to social workers, reporters of child abuse, and the general public to ensure that children's treatment doesn’t depend on their race or ethnicity, organizers said. "It’s time to be honest with ourselves and understand the damage inflicted on children and families treated unequally," says a new "Help Make No Difference" brochure. When it comes to black children and white children in similar circumstances of abuse or neglect, black children are more than thrice as likely to be removed from their homes. That's a Polk County statistic, but it's a problem across Iowa. Blacks are not more likely to abuse their children than whites, yet more black children are in the system; they tend to stay in the system longer than other kids; and their outcomes are frequently worse. Social work supervisor Mykala Vrban said people should use "a culturally competent lens" to make decisions about children’s safety. For example, she said, a household with several adults, all referred to as aunt or uncle even though there is no blood relationship, may seem chaotic to those unfamiliar with African-American culture. The new DHS initiative is concentrating its efforts for now on Polk County, where black children make up about 7% of the population but account for 24% of children in out-of-home care. All DHS workers in the county have gone through a course called "Undoing Racism." Gessow would like others in the community to take it, too. Source: Des Moines Register |
| G.A.O. Report Shows Failure of Plan Colombia |
|
A recent report by the Government Accountability Office, commissioned by Senator Joe Biden, has come to an unsurprising conclusion: After more than $6 billion spent, the controversial drug control operation known as Plan Colombia has failed by large margins to meet its targets. Its militarized approach of eradication and interdiction has served only to fuel a conflict that has harmed many innocents. Drug production has actually increased. The street price of drugs in the US has fallen.
The goal had been to cut cocaine production in Colombia by half from 2000 to 2006 through eradication of coca crops and training of anti-narcotics police and military personnel. In fact, production rose 4%, the GAO found. In 1999 it cost $142 to buy a gram of cocaine on the US street, according to inflation-adjusted UN figures. By 2006 the price had fallen to $94. The military-industrial complex stands in the way of many common sense solutions. Reasons for optimism can be seen in certain baby steps taken by the Bush administration: Of the first 100,000 drug users benefiting from President Bush's primary demand-side initiative -- the $300 million Access to Recovery program -- 71% successfully completed therapy and abstained from illicit drugs, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Of those with criminal histories, 85% remained out of the criminal justice system. Other research has shown that drug treatment programs can reduce drug use by over 70% and criminal activity by 50%. There is a simple strategy that Obama and his congressional colleagues could take that would save about $6 billion a year: Cut supply-side spending by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Require that two-thirds of its funding be spent on demand-side programs. While that is simple, it won’t be easy. Fighting against these basic, common-sense changes are entrenched special interests, including defense and prison contractors and prison guards unions. Source: Sojourners |
| Plan for a More Walkable, Bikeable Camden Area |
|
Even as its highways rumble at all hours, and riverfront traffic on the Delaware offers a constant gateway, Camden NJ remains largely isolated, said Jacob Gordon, project manager at Cooper's Ferry Development Association (CFDA). Most Camden residents still don't own cars -- a fact that leaves mass transit, bicycles, and shoes as prime transportation. Gordon says that a new push for more and better bicycle and pedestrian paths in and around the city could soon alleviate that isolation.
The CFDA has linked with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, the state Department of Transportation (NJDOT), and other agencies on an 18-month campaign to envision and encourage a future of urban trails. Gordon said the approach, meant in part to boost accessibility between the city and surrounding towns, could also help combat obesity and become an economic boon for Camden. "Of course, we can't be blind to the perception that some people in the suburbs have of Camden," Gordon said. "We think that perception is misguided. ... These links actually benefit everyone." Camden and its close-in neighbors already count about 10 walking and biking paths, including one on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, a trail that borders Admiral Wilson Boulevard and Farnham Park, and the Merchantville bike path. A tentative concept would connect and extend those existing paths to create a 10- to 25-mile network, including a loop around North Camden and a riverfront trail extending north to the Betsy Ross Bridge and beyond. Another trail could link the Gloucester City and Oaklyn areas with South Camden. It's just a concept, though, an evolving work in progress, under consideration by a steering committee that has yet to secure funding or formal municipal partnerships. NJDOT, Rails-to-Trails, the Conservation Society of New Jersey, and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia (BCGP) are among the groups represented, led by the CFDA. The BCGP said it wants not only to see an effective trail network take shape, according to coalition advocacy director John Boyle, but also to see bicycle-friendly improvements on the well-worn Camden streets. "If you do it yourself, you find that it's not as dangerous as has been perceived," Boyle said, referring to bike trips through Camden. "But I wouldn't say it's a good experience. You're dealing with blight; you're dealing with poor road conditions." Revitalization of any city demands pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly efforts, said Tom Sexton, director of the northeast Rails-to-Trails office. The group focuses on conversion of former railroad lines for public uses. Sexton said the organization wants to help salvage former railroad lines around Camden "before they're lost." Source: Courier-Post |
| # More # Small # Hauls # |
|
| Most material here is adapted, not quoted. Views expressed do not |
| necessarily represent ours. Life-Net News biweekly newspage, Club |
| LIFENET online, the Web site www.lifenetradio.org, and |
| broadcast Life-Net Radio (where you can star!) together make |
| up Mr. Ret Z.'s private charitable enterprise. To get Life-Net e-mail |
| free, or to unsubscribe, just ask: lifenetradio@broadcast.net |
| + Iesous Khristos Theou Huios Soter + |