| St. Patrick's Day fun gets new twist
JUST A LITTLE OVER A MONTH before the 24th annual St. Patrick's Day festivities in Dublin, and the city is gearing up for a variety of changes that will accompany this year's event. In case you hadn't already heard, the festival is moving to a new location at, and around, Dublin Civic Center, with the parade and Fun Run also taking on a new look. Part of the reason for the change of venue was an opportunity to take advantage of the Civic Center's more centralized location, including having festivities more visible to freeway traffic and, therefore, potentially attracting more visitors. But the reality is that the St. Patty's Day festival has simply been a victim of its own success, causing an increasing level of angst among the business owners on and around Amador Valley Boulevard.
AC Transit board buys the wrong type of bus
With only a short notice, a "crowd" of bus riders descended on AC Transit at a special meeting of the board on Jan. 31. At least the 12 people were called that by a board member because few members of the public ever attend their meetings. This board receives little public scrutiny. They came to protest the purchase of more Van Hool buses. These are the slick-looking "European-styled" buses with large black-tinted windows. Soon after they hit the road in June 2003, they were dubbed "the buses from hell" or, for short, the Van Hells. They are imported from Belgium but AC Transit devised the torturous one-foot-step-up-and-half-facing-backward seating configuration with a bottleneck entry. Wheelchairs have to be accommodated with a separate center door that is troublesome for drivers.
Saturday Bulletin Board
Women's Resources' spring volunteer training will begin in early March. Compassionate volunteers are needed to provide information, support, advocacy and medical accompaniment to adult, teen and child victims of domestic violence and sexual assault through the 24-hour hot line.
The 69-hour Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Training will be held two evenings a week for 10 consecutive weeks. Four Saturday morning sessions are required as well.
For information about dates, times and enrollment, contact Christiana Sulinski at 570 424-2093 by Monday, Feb. 26.
Power wheelchairs available to seniors
The Senior Wheels USA Program makes available power wheelchairs to senior citizens and the permanently disabled at no cost to the recipient, if they qualify.
Stephen Hawking's cult following
Stephen Hawking, the world's most famous disabled physicist, has a growing fanbase among today's youth. Sales of his book 'A Brief History Of Time' are at an all time high, and the latest popular fashion accessory is a wheelchair, complete with voicebox.One young Hawking fan said "Stephen Hawking is like really cool. He talks just like a robot, and he's so hot. I would totally like to do him."He is especially popular amongst gay men. Many gay nightclubs are now hosting 'Hawking nights' in tribute to the genius, where clubbers dance the night away in their customised wheelchairs.Professor Hawking has declined to comment, but is said to be writing a full article for Playboy magazine, of which he is an aficionado. .
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