In Health Bill, Billions for Parks, Paths
from The Boston Globe
Sweeping healthcare legislation working its way through Congress is more than an effort to provide insurance to millions of Americans without coverage. Tucked within is a provision that could provide billions of dollars for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and even farmers’ markets. The add-ons - characterized as part of a broad effort to improve the nation’s health “infrastructure’’ - appear in House and Senate versions of the bill. More

Children 'Need Water Fountains'
from BBC News
The Children's Food Campaign (CFC) says few parks have water fountains, so children buy fizzy drinks to quench their thirst. These often contain more calories than they have burned off, it says. But officials said issues such as vandalism had to be considered when deciding where to put fountains. More

New Electronic Park being Built in Utah City
from The Salt Lake Tribune
Parents have argued with their children for years to shut down the computer and play outside. A new electronic playground in Layton, Utah, could be the answer, as one of the first in the nation to turn the appeal of computer games into kinetic outdoor fun. More

Playgrounds Develop Kids' Minds and Bodies
from The Buffalo News
Along with physical benefits, playing leads to healthy brain development, allowing children the opportunity to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts and to learn self-advocacy skills. When children are not allowed to play -- when their days are so structured it deprives them of any chance of playing--they suffer, experts say. More

Non-Profit Organization KaBOOM! Announces List of 93 'Playful City USA' Communities
from PR Newswire
Parents have less disposable income for children's play-related activities because of the economy and funding for Parks and Recreation departments nationwide continues to dwindle during a time when 82 percent of parents believe kids don't spend enough time playing outside. Despite these challenges, 93 communities across the nation have taken innovative approaches to make play a priority to ensure their children have the time and space they need to play. To honor cities and towns making this commitment to play, KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to bringing play back into children's lives, named them Playful CityUSA communities. More

More Tennessee Cities Opt Out of Guns in Parks
from The Associated Press via the Tennessean
The list of cities and counties opting out of Tennessee's new law that allows people with gun permits to take their weapons into public parks keeps getting longer. While some city and county governments have rushed to exempt their parks, a Nashville lawyer who has worked more than a decade for the new law said he is considering a court challenge. More

Vermont Using Facebook in Effort to Boost Park Visits
from The Associated Press via WPTZ-TV
There's no mystery about why visits to Vermont state parks are down 14 percent this year, but state officials are looking beyond the bad weather to boost visits. When Jason Gibbs took over as commissioner of Forest, Parks and Recreation in November, he hoped to boost annual utilization of state parks to 1 million visits through strategies such as a Facebook page, park passes at libraries and targeted advertising. More

Parks Programs Steady Despite Bad Economy
from The Pueblo Chieftain
Americans are certainly watching their dollars in this stubborn economic downturn. But Puebloans still appear willing to fork out for their public recreation. Despite the money crunch being felt by most, 2009 participation numbers in the various City of Pueblo, Colo., Parks and Recreation Department athletic programs have remained consistent with the last few years. More

Parks Nominee Called Tops
from the Jackson Hole News
Conservationists and National Park Service veterans alike have hailed President Barack Obama’s pick for Park Service director as a visionary who will protect resources while reaching out to a younger generation. More

Where Dogs Run Free
from The Boston Globe
With dogs having been domesticated for at least 14,000 years, people ought to have figured out how to deal with canine-human interactions. But there’s friction in the relationship, and in the Boston area, one park in Newton is the flashpoint. The solution to the problem is more controlled freedom for dogs, not less. More

Pastors go to Bat for California City’s Youth Baseball
from the Fresno Bee
Eight pastors have stepped to the plate to save a youth baseball program in southeast Fresno. Parents of about 100 ballplayers in the summer Mosqueda Little League were notified in April that Fresno’s Parks Afterschool Recreation & Community Services department planned to eliminate the 2009 season, which had been scheduled to start in July, for lack of sponsors and volunteers in a tough economy. "We couldn’t let baseball go away," says United Faith Christian Church’s pastor, the Rev. Mark Reyes. "It's all-American." More

Rural Areas could Benefit from More Trails
from the Pekin Daily Times
Small towns have big potential in an increasingly wired world and a fast-paced time, according to “Small Town Sustainability: Economic, Social and Environmental Innovation,” a new book by Virginia Tech professors Paul L. Knox and Heike Mayer. The urban studies teachers concede that most city planning discussions focus on metropolitan regions and global cities, but add that local cultures, identities and sustainability all are worthy of addressing, too, and they show case studies about successful strategies and programs. More