News In Brief
IT DOESN'T GROW ON TREES
Would the birthplace of the legendary Johnny Appleseed allow its last working orchard to be turned into a subdivision? That could happen in Leominster, Mass., a town of 41,000 people that's both in the heart of the state's fruit-growing region and its high-tech industry. It's the latter that has lured many upwardly mobile people with money to spend - on, say, $350,000 houses. The orchard owner wants to carve up his land. If his plan is OK'd, Leominster could still preserve the orchard by buying it, but the asking price would likely be in the millions of dollars.
CALL IT A TEXTBOOK CASE
After complaining to a teacher that her copy of "The Scarlet Letter" was underlined and her chemistry book had logged more years than she had, San Francisco junior Kristin Schleicher was told books weren't a priority at her high school. So she entered a "There Ought to Be a Law" essay contest, won it, and will now see a bill filed in the state assembly to replace texts every 10 years.
Boston newspaper is latest to stop running tobacco ads
The Boston Globe said last week it's joining a small but growing group of newspapers that don't run tobacco ads. "Even though tobacco remains legal,... we can no longer justify carrying advertisements that promote a product when the harm it causes is so evident," Globe publisher Richard Gilman said. The daily said its decision was made independent of The New York Times, which made a similar decision in April. The Times acquired the Globe in 1993. A spokesman for Brown & Williamson Tobacco said the decision raises disturbing questions about what measures a newspaper will take in the perceived interest of readers. It "makes one wonder what's next - violent movies, fatty foods, alcohol?" Smith said. Six major dailies that don't accept tobacco ads:
The Boston Globe
The Christian Science Monitor
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
The New York Times
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News
The Seattle Times
- Associated Press
(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society