— West Virginia county reverses decision, school swings stay
HUNTINGTON(AP) — Cabell County elementary school students can keep on swinging.
Cabell County Schools announced Thursday that its plan to remove swing sets from elementary schools goes against state policy. A statement posted on the school system’s website says school officials discovered that the West Virginia Board of Education requires swings at centers offering kindergarten programs.
Kindergarten programs are offered at all Cabell County elementary schools.
Schools safety manager Tim Stewart said earlier this week that swing sets would be removed starting this fall due to recent lawsuits and cost concerns over properly maintaining the protective barriers around them.
Superintendent William A. Smith said the school system is working to ensure it’s in compliance with both the state policy and playground safety standards. But he said the issue of school systems’ liability remains. “I believe our experience has shed a light on a question of law that must be addressed by our state’s legislative bodies,” Stewart said in the statement.
Stadium now in ad
MORGANTOWN (AP) — Nike has replaced the image of a strip mine with that of a football stadium in ads promoting a new West Virginia University football uniform.
Nike decided Thursday to revise the ad after environmentalists complained about the depiction of a mountaintop removal mine behind the image of a uniform intended to honor 29 men killed in the Upper Big Branch mine blast.
That mine was an underground operation.
Activists said they didn’t object to the actual uniform, but that the ad appeared to be a tacit endorsement of mountaintop removal by both Nike and the university.
Both insisted that wasn’t their intention.
Nike says it designed the black and white uniforms as a tribute to the state’s coal mining heritage.
The uniforms will be worn for a single game this year, the Backyard Brawl at Pittsburgh Nov. 26.
Outdoor burning banned
CHARLESTON (AP) — Gov. Joe Manchin has banned outdoor burning in the eight counties of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.
Dry conditions prompted the governor to prohibit burning starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The ban continues until the governor lifts it.
The prohibition includes fires built for camping, burning trash or for warming purposes. Affected counties are Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan and Pendleton.
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