Jul 11 2009
Happy Weekend! Good News for July 11, 2009
Greetings! I am certainly hoping things are on the upswing for me. I have been having a series of challenges connected to my blogs in the form of a persistent hacker wreaking some nasty havoc. NOT pleasant or nice or GOOD at all! After the last battle on Thursday all seems good so I have my fingers crossed that he’s moved on to bigger blogs.
Anyway…I could use some good news, how about you?
Donations Keep Pools Open During Hard Times
Families and business owners are collecting money to keep open pools that cities can’t afford.
Children are selling cookies and donating stuffed piggy banks to raise money. Their efforts have inspired business owners and adults to donate as well. Collecting money for public pools might seem frivolous at a time when cities are facing huge deficits and cutting funding for programs that feed the poor. But pools provide more than just relief from summer’s heat. They can be a gathering spot and a nostalgic leftover of carefree days. For kids in big cities, they are a safe place to have fun and take swim classes.
At 84, Colorado Man Gets High School Diploma
At 84, Takeshi Murata has finally received a high school diploma.
Murata’s father came to America from Japan in the early 1900s. He began to farm with his father. Tak and his siblings attended school through the ninth grade. Because of circumstances, Tak started high school late and then was drafted as the US was involved in WWII. Because of his Japanese ancestry, Murata was placed in a military intelligence school in Minnesota.
After the war, he was sent to Japan as an interpreter.
“When I got discharged from the Army, I went to the Lab School and asked for a diploma, because even though I didn’t graduate, I thought the military intelligence classes would qualify for graduation,” Murata said. “The school officials told me I wasn’t qualified to graduate.”
So he returned to the US and went back to farming. He and his wife raised five children and all of them went to college.
Recently a local high school learned about the circumstances and was able to look back at the records and present Murata with a high school diploma.
U.S. Postal Service to Receive Alternative Fuel Vehicles
The U.S. Postal Service is replacing 6,500 vehicles with 1,000 E-85 ethanol-capable and 900 gasoline/electric hybrid vehicles. The remainder of the vehicles to be replaced will be fuel-efficient, four-cylinder vehicles.
There was no cost to the Postal Service for the vehicles. The US General Services Administration will bear all purchase and distribution expenses.
The Postal Service operates and maintains the largest civilian fleet in the US. This change will bring the total number of alternate fuel-capable vehicles to more than 43,000.
Throughout its history, the Postal Service has utilized every new mode of transportation in its efforts to provide prompt and reliable mail delivery. From horse-drawn wagons to these new alternative fuel vehicles, the Postal Service has always tried to reduce the environmental impact of its vehicles.
One response so far
These are some good, short reads. I enjoyed all three of them. Thanks for sharing and sorry to hear about the hacker. =/
American Idiot’s last blog post..Bang Head, break pots.