"Tanorexic" New Jersey mom, Patricia Krentcil. Source: Julio Cortez / AP Photo
BETWEEN THE LINES: Some rules are made to be broken, particularly when they lack common sense.
Such is the argument with rules that don’t allow students to use sunscreen when participating in outdoor school activities. All things considered, this one’s a no-brainer.
In the just ended Albany session, lawmakers enacted legislation to protect children from bullies. Now, they need to protect children from sunburn. One state senator from Queens has proposed changing New York’s guidelines for students’ sunscreen use — without a doctor’s note — when engaged in outdoor school activities.
Several weeks ago, two elementary school students in Washington came home with serious sunburns after a five hour outing because their school didn’t allow them to use sunscreen.
After much hand-wringing, vote-contesting and court-battling, the race to replace Carl Kruger as the State Senator of the 27th District is finally over. Republican David Storobin traveled to Albany yesterday and was sworn in, followed by some welcoming comments from Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. The above is Skelos’ comments on the floor of the Senate, provided by the Senate’s YouTube channel, with a tip o’ the hat to Politicker for bringing it to our attention.
Cymbrowitz during the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee’s hearing on underage drinking. (Source: Cymbrowitz's office)
Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, as chair of the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee, recently held a hearing on underage drinking. Through testimony presented at the hearing, the assemblyman concluded that underage drinkers comprise 17 percent of New York State’s alcohol purchases, representing a major public health issue, and resulting in an unacceptable number of deaths and diseases. Cymbrowitz has a history of vocal opposition to expanding access to alcohol, most recently when he bashed Governor Paterson for his push to permit wine sales in bodegas, gas stations and grocery stores. With testimony from the hearing bolstering his case, Cymbrowitz is now calling for a comprehensive plan to reduce or eliminate underage drinking throughout the state.
THE COMMUTE: Assemblyman Brian Kavanaugh of Manhattan’s Lower East Side introduced legislation in Albany that would ban the MTA from using tropical hardwoods in the subway system, in favor of more expensive materials.
