Feed Editor 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT NRPA's Parks and Recreation Weekly News Brief provides industry-specific news and information to leaders in the parks and recreation profession. Delivered weekly, the publication keeps professionals abreast of topics that impact the daily operation of their departments. http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nrpa/nrpaupdate.xml en A recent study shows how close you live to a city park plays a part in your physical fitness. Kansas State University researcher Andrew Kaczynski told a group of doctors from the University of Missouri School of Medicine that city parks can help fight childhood obesity. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9aaf2da574c 1 The Oklahoma Senate recently voted unanimously for a bill by Senator Jay Paul Gumm to increase the "zone of safety" around schools, childcare facilities, playgrounds and parks. Under current law, sex offenders are prohibited from loitering within 300 feet of those places where children congregate. Gumm's bill - Senate Bill 2064 - would extend the zone of safety to being within 500 feet of the locations. Further, the bill would put new restrictions on sex offenders who enter the zone to pick up or drop off their own children. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e38b77a36e 2 Bike jocks everywhere are testing out Google's new bicycle commuting function on Google Maps, and so far the verdict is 'meh'. The biggest goose egg so far is New York City, where reporters at the New York Post tested numerous recommended routes and found them "filled with potentially fatal flaws, including routes that cut across Central Park's treacherous tranverse roads and steer cyclists to truck-riddled thoroughfares." 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e39d804dfe 3 Ever wonder how many visits Utah's federal lands get in a single year? According to the most recent available statistics, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management public lands record 22.7 million visitor days a year. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e36bf59028 4 Terica Glenn is struggling to keep her four children in after-school programs at a nearby playground. When school ends and summer programs begin, Glenn said, she probably won't be able to afford them. "In the summer it’s way higher," she said of the programs' cost. She now pays "what I can" toward the after-school programs. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e3bc70fab0 5 Sand-boarding concessionaires and ATV riding at southern Idaho's Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park are among cash-boosting ideas being discussed to help the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation achieve more self-sufficiency, its director recently said after budget writers set her austere $30.4 million 2011 budget. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e38200bc91 6 The Minnesota House and Senate recently passed what one legislative leader called the "meat and potatoes of this session"—a $1 billion package of public works that supporters said would expand colleges and parks and create jobs at a time of high unemployment. In a vote that fell largely along party lines, the DFL-led House passed the measure 89-44, rejecting objections to the bill's cost and priorities. The DFL-controlled Senate voted 49-17 in favor. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e3ace54145 7 The $110 million Woodall Rodgers Park in Dallas is scheduled to be finished in early 2012. Its amenities are expected to be complete later that year. The 5.2-acre deck park will create an urban green space in downtown Dallas. The idea for a deck park over Woodall Rodgers Freeway goes all the way back to Dallas civic leaders in the 1960s. They created the original plan in response to a Texas Department of Transportation request for the right of way for a freeway loop all the way around downtown. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e49715992f 8 The percentage of American children who are overweight or obese has been growing for decades, and now nearly one in three has a body mass index that's greater than normal. Although evidence suggests that obesity rates are leveling off overall, for some groups of kids—especially poor or minority kids—the problem continues to grow, according to a study published recently in the journal Health Affairs. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e3c806820b 9 Portland, Ore., has some of the best parks around and city officials said they may need more money from taxpayers to keep them that way. Officials at the Portland Parks and Recreation Department said they are considering putting a bond measure before voters in November. They say the city’s parks are on the verge of being "loved to death". 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e3752ebc7c 10 Orthopedic surgeons warn that sports injuries in children are rising dramatically, creating a "silent epidemic." But they add that awareness and early treatment can keep young athletes from developing serious problems. One expert scheduled to speak at the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in New Orleans said injuries are increasing because kids are playing sports year-round—often without seasonal breaks—and being exposed to more athletic activity by playing on more than one team at once. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e3d7068630 11 Actress and best-selling author Marilu Henner is an avid traveler who isn't afraid to go away alone or with a plane full of relatives. These days, though, she enjoys taking road trips with her husband and two sons. Henner told the Tribune, "My family has really gotten into taking road trips. There's nothing like taking a family road trip to get to know one another really well. I was never a national-parks person in the past. My husband, who is from Utah, said, 'We've got to take the boys to some national parks and show them things all kids should see.' That was that and I fell in love with it. We've gone from everything to the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone to Yosemite. We try to hit a couple of national parks every summer." 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e40d6d868d 12 Parks and ballfields across Augusta, Ga., will fill up soon as people flock to the facilities to enjoy warmer weather. Springlike temperatures and a still-weak economy make parks and recreation a popular option for people seeking entertainment close to home, several park officials said. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e456079959 13 National Park Service biological science technician, Etta Spradlin, and geologist, Todd Knoedler, recently walked around (and surveyed) an abandoned oil storage tank in The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. The NPS is preparing to plug 45 abandoned oil and gas wells inside the park boundaries. Funding for the National Park Service's efforts comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 16 Mar 2010 08:52:30 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b9e4a2192efc 14