Hot off the Press: Yoga at Dodger Stadium edition

Jefferson County in Alabama is in big trouble financially. Two-thirds of county employees — 1,400 — are eligible for layoffs, crushing services: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/us/01alabama.html?_r=1&ref=us.

An effort to jam cell phone signals at schools in one north Iowa school district was thwarted by a FCC regulation which only allows federal agencies the permission to use jamming devices: http://gazetteonline.com/2009/07/31/iowa-law-blocks-schools-call-for-jamming-device.

An affluent golf course in West Des Moines has become a victim of the recession. A decline in membership, due in most part because people realized there were more important things to spend money on, forced its foreclosure: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090801/NEWS05/908010325. Hilarious. Time to tee up at the public course!

An Iowa-based suicide prevention hotline for farmers and other agricultural workers has had a 20 percent increase in call volume compared to last year, showcasing a lack of mental health care in rural communities: http://iowaindependent.com/16472/farmer-suicides-spotlight-lack-of-mental-health-care-in-rural-america.

SEIU Local 1000, representing 95,000 California state workers, has authorized its leaders to take action up to and including a strike, though a strike is not planned: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union2-2009aug02,0,2450021.story. Given the cuts the Governator has imposed and proposed, this quote is insanely ironic:

"With so many Californians out of work, it is very disappointing that these employees have voted to walk away from their jobs," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. "We hope state workers continue to show up to work at a time when Californians are in need of the valuable services they provide."

Apparently their services are not valuable enough to keep them from receiving a 15 percent pay cut, though.

Interesting post on the NYT Bats Blog about sensory overload at MLB ballparks: http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/stadium-or-spectacle/?hp. I agree there are too many distractions. At the Dodgers game in June, I had a very hard time watching the game with all the beach balls bouncing around (and the obnoxious asshole down the row desperately trying to get people to hit it our way), each batter's intro music, and the wrap-around graphics boards. Insane.

Cool NYT interactive graphic regarding the American Time Use Survey: http://www.nytimes.com//interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html?ref=business. At 8:50 pm, 39 percent of all Americans are watching TV. Sad.

The Dodgers are cashing in on pro sports' newest money making strategy: yoga in the outfield with Andre Ethier: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-fi-dodgers3-2009aug03,0,985195.story.

More than 300 people turned out to audition for jobs as ghosts, ghouls, and vampires at Knott's Berry Farm's annual Halloween Haunt: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-knotts4-2009aug04,0,3122647.story.

There's ongoing fight over the La Jolla seal beach between those who want the seals evicted to make way for a children's beach, and activists who feel the seals have a natural right to be there: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-outthere4-2009aug04,0,7870088.story. Although I was unimpressed when I saw it — La Jolla can't hold a candle to Santa Cruz — I think the seals are right to claim the beach. Leave them alone, for Christ's sake.