| Patients evacuated at Newcastle hospital
Fifty patients in wheelchairs and beds have been evacuated after a fire broke out at a hospital in Newcastle, north of Sydney. The fire started in a recreational room, not directly attached to the main section of the Lingard Private Hospital on Merewether Street, Merewether, at about 6.20pm (AEDT) Monday. NSW Fire Brigades Superintendent Tom Cooper said the hospital activated its emergency evacuation plan because of heavy smoke in the wards. "It was as a precaution and activated 50 people from the private hospital, it was patients in wheelchairs, some on portable beds," he said. "These hospitals have special features to stop any smoke penetrating too far into the ward, so a lot of these people weren't taken form the building, they were just taken from one part of the building to the next.
Bethlehem's Deliberative Session Works Through Warrant
It took nearly two hours for two warrant articles to be discussed thoroughly and agreed to Monday. One of them was the proposed town spending plan for 2007, and the other a request for an additional $99,000 for the more than $800,000 restoration of the historic town building and library. One issue important to many voters at the deliberative session of the annual town meeting at Bethlehem Elementary School was having the town's lot lines mapped out by the GIS mapping program. This was an item the town's assessing office has requested for several years. The town already is tied into the system, for which the state has gathered information for emergency services. However, individual lots are not mapped out, and some residents said the town has missed taxing certain properties, for several years in some cases, as a result.
Miller Park library to reopen Feb. 10
The Miller Park branch of the Upper Arlington Public Library, having undergone its first major renovation since 1964, is scheduled to reopen with a Feb. 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Miller Park library closed for remodeling last spring and was scheduled to reopen this spring, but mild weather enabled the project to move ahead of schedule, library director Ann Moore said. "The nice weather through the winter helped us," she said. "It helped us get a lot done outside." Moore also credits contractor Teemok Construction for working efficiently. "They've been really great to work with," she said. The renovation also came in under budget, Moore said. The project was originally estimated to cost $937,000, but Moore projects the current tally at $900,000. "We've done pretty well in keeping the project under what we estimated," she said.
1984 sticks its camel nose under the Catholic cafeteria’s door
Big Brother dishes up mealtime regulations for students - but how did "sexual orientation" get on the menu? Poster in a Catholic School cafeteria states that discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited. Literally "cafeteria Catholics." The brightly colored poster on the door in the Catholic elementary school's cafeteria here carries lengthy legalese. The large poster is on the side of the door facing into the kitchen area, but is easily visible in the student dining hall when the door is propped open. "Restricted foods," the poster says in red, next to roadside sign shapes that one would see to advise motorists about warnings and required stops. But this poster says "Stop" to soda, gum and candy. A warning is printed against "Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value," which, another cautionary note says, "will be prosecuted." No joke, the sign carries the authority of the Academic Achievement Division, Health and Nutrition Services Unit, School Health and Nutrition Programs, Arizona Department of Education, Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction.
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