It’s too bad about NASA’s false start on getting the space shuttle back into service, due to a problematic fuel gauge. The indefinite delay can’t be helping nerves at NASA, either, considering this Discovery launch is supposed to signal that the agency is back in business after the Columbia tragedy. Another regret: that taxpayers spent more than $73,000 sending 44 members of Congress to Cape Canaveral, Fla., for the scrubbed launch.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Drivers heading east toward Hillside on Douglas may have done a double take recently — a speed limit sign with its “35” mph convincingly spray-painted into an “85.” Fortunately, dragging Douglas doesn’t involve such speeds. Too bad the same doesn’t always apply several blocks to the south, on what can seem like the Kellogg Motor Speedway.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
As if the food we buy doesn’t have enough legalese and marketing nonsense on the labels, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to require a warning label on soft drinks detailing what they’ll do to you if consumed to excess. Sounds like something that would work about as well as warning labels on smokes. Most users don’t read packaging, let alone heed it. But is more information needed in this case? I have seen teen girls debating carb content in store aisles.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Annual Literacy Resources Book Sale recycles reading materials in the best possible way: to benefit reading. Check out the quality volumes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at 412 S. Main, second floor.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It can’t be fun to hear rampant speculation about whether you’re going to retire or expire soon, but the notice served by Chief Justice William Rehnquist that he’s staying on the bench as long as his health allows won’t stop the guessing game. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement and the advanced age (85) of Justice John Paul Stevens make the future of the court much bigger than Rehnquist’s plans. And with the advise-and-consent process new to 56 senators, including Kansas Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, the succession question is only going to generate more buzz.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The Tulsa Park and Recreation Board recently reversed itself and voted not to add a creationist exhibit to the Tulsa Zoo. The proposed exhibit would have added a Genesis account of life’s origins to the zoo displays for balance. After creating a public outcry by approving the display, the board looked over its handiwork and saw that it was not good. Amid the sound and fury, a victory for common sense.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
