"Heavy snowmelt and the rainiest spring ever noted here have combined to send the lake to its highest levels on record"
"As budgets dry up, so do city pools" Associated Press / May 31, 2011
ANDERSON, S.C. — The Great Recession has drained city budgets, it also has drained public pools for good.
I've been told we have been growing for nine quarters, so how... never mind.
From New York City to Sacramento, pools now considered costly extravagances are being closed, taking away a rite of summer for millions.
Hold on a minute; I've got to write some debt service checks to bondholders.
It’s especially hard for families that cannot afford a membership to private pool or fitness club and do not live in a neighborhood where they can befriend someone with a backyard pool.
Disregarding the pool insult, let the tempers and bullets fly!
Hard times have not always meant cutbacks. An author who studied the role swimming pools played in 20th century America found more than 1,000 municipal pools were built as public works projects during the Great Depression. But this time, most governments see only decades-old pools burning holes in already tight budgets....
Yeah, once the banks and bondholders have been paid off, the well-connected corporations taken care of, and lavish political lifestyles funded then we'll see what is left over for you, taxpayer.
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Related: Mont., S.D. residents brace for floods
Flood coverage has slowed to a trickle, and tornado coverage is dying down.
"In Joplin, Obama offers comfort, vows aid; Says nation will be with city as it rebuilds after deadly tornado" May 30, 2011|By A.G. Sulzberger, New York Times
While Obama was generally welcomed and warmly received, he also faced criticism. A few said he should have come sooner (he prioritized his trip to Europe over tragedy at home), later (he distracted from the cleanup), or not at all (his visit featured publicity-seeking protesters from Westboro Baptist Church and counterprotesters).
But those who saw his speech, a crowd that included people who lost homes and loved ones to the tornado, generally praised him.
“Most of us didn’t even vote for him, but he’s our president and he supported us,’’ said Phil Stotts, 31, who said he was pastor of a church focused on those recovering from drugs and alcohol. “We’re just honored to have him here.’’
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