A popular portable basketball hoop found in some Fairfaxneighborhoods has been recalled by federal safety officials and themanufacturer.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the Lifetime andEscalade Sports hoop may have a sharp protruding bolt on the players'side of the pole that could cause serious leg or body cuts when thebolt is exposed. Nationally, 27 people have been cut bumping into thepole while driving to the basket.
Lifetime Products Inc. of Utah is voluntarily recalling 1.7million hoops. Escalade Sports of Indiana is calling back 16,000Escalade Sports hoops.
Inova Fairfax Hospital ranks 24th among the top 50 metropolitanhospitals in the United States, according to a recent surveypublished in the May-June issue of AARP's Modern Maturity magazine.
The Consumers' Checkbook ratings give Inova Fairfax the highestranking of D.C. area hospitals. Washington Hospital Center was 29thand Georgetown University Medical Center was 42nd. North ShoreUniversity Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., topped the list.
The ratings by Consumers' Checkbook, a D.C.-based nonprofitconsumer education organization, are based on a study of 1,308metropolitan acute-care hospitals.
The organization surveyed more than 20,000 physicians, analyzedstatistics from federal records of 30 million patient hospital staysand examined accreditation scores.
The first public hearings on Fairfax County's proposed budget forthe coming year are set for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday under arevised schedule approved by the Board of Supervisors.
The Monday and Tuesday hearings start at 7:30 p.m., with apresentation by the School Board set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.Wednesday's hearing starts at 7 p.m. Call 703-324-3151 to be put onthe speakers' list.
The hearings are at the County Government Center, 12000 GovernmentCenter Pkwy.
Supervisors said they would mark up the budget at 10 a.m. April22, with formal adoption a week later.
The McLean Citizens Association has approved a resolutionexpressing concern about underage drinking at parties in privatehomes and the need to hold parents accountable. The resolution comesat a time when teenagers hold big spring parties, many of themcentered around graduation.
Jan Auerbach, president of the Safe Community Coalition, said theassociation has expressed similar concern twice in the last eightyears but this time added language that would hold accountableparents and establishments that sell liquor.
'It is time to recognize that teen drinking and substance abuseare not just problems involving our children,' Auerbach said.
The Safe Community Coalition consists of volunteers connected withLangley and McLean high schools who want to promote an environmentfor students that is free of violence, alcohol and substance abuse.
A recent study by Columbia University's National Center onAddiction and Substance Abuse reignited the coalition's commitment,recommending that policymakers 'step up enforcement of underagedrinking laws for children and teens who drink and the individualsand establishments that provide alcohol to them.'
'Children cite other people's houses as the most common settingfor drinking,' said Joseph A. Califano Jr., chairman and president ofthe center.
Auerbach said the group wants to show police and judges that theMcLean-Langley community is serious about the dangers of underagedrinking.
Proposed changes to Chandon Park in Herndon -- includingestablishing an off-leash dog park -- will be the subject of a publichearing at 7 p.m. next Thursday, according to the Fairfax County ParkAuthority.
Park Authority officials also have proposed adding 32 parkingspaces to the 29 currently at the eight-acre park, at 900 Palmer Dr.
The revision to the park's master plan also calls for new openspace and the elimination of plans for lighted tennis courts, atennis practice court and a basketball court.
The hearing will be held at Herndon Middle School, 901 Locust St.Call Judy Pedersen at 703-324-8662 if you want to speak. A report onthe proposed changes is available at the Herndon Fortnightly Library,768 Center St.; at Park Authority headquarters, 12055 GovernmentCenter Pkwy., Suite 421, Fairfax; or online at www.co.fairfax.va.us/parks/gmp/ chandon.htm.
-- Compiled by Diane Mattingly
