At Home: Game Over
With aggressive parents causing trouble on the ballfields and arenas of little league sports, coaches and officials are exercising their authority and trying to keep control of the game. But sometimes they take things a bit too far, as one Ottawa soccer mom found out recently.
As the Ottawa Sun reports, Zita Oliveria and her 10-year-old son, Noa, were ?kicked off a soccer field? after refusing to agree to ?take shelter under trees during a thunderstorm.?
During an evening game last week, thunder and lightning caused play to be suspended. The coaches ?decided to round the kids up under the trees bordering the field.? Oliveria refused due to safety concerns, and remained with her son, away from the trees.
She was harassed by several coaches, who told her she had to go and join everyone else; some accused her of breaking the law and being ?irrational and difficult.? Eventually she was informed that she had to leave the field since she would not do as she was told.
The ?outraged? mom is ?shocked and concerned that so many people didn’t consider the dangers of hiding under a tree when lightning is nearby.?
Around the World: Special Delivery
Fines. Signs posting regulations. ?Stoop and scoop? stations in public parks. DNA-testing dog excrement. And remote-controlled dog poop that chases irresponsible owners who don’t stop to clean up after their pets. Think you’ve seen it all when it comes to dealing with dog owners who won’t keep the community clean? Think again?one town near Madrid came up with an innovative plan to reduce the problem.
As the Telegraph reports, the town of Brunete, Spain, mailed dog excrement to offending owners in ?in a box branded with town hall insignia and marked ?Lost Property? and delivered by courier to the pet owners home.?
Volunteers kept watch for ?dog owners who failed to scoop,? later speaking casually with the owner and discovering the name of the dog. That information, together with the dog’s breed, was enough to ?identify the owner from the registered pet database held in the town hall,? a council spokesperson told reporters.
It worked: the town ?has since reported a 70 per cent drop in the amount of dog mess found in its streets.?
