Free Republic

...Bushway, a science teacher at Barrie Middle and Upper School, wondered aloud to her upper-level high school chemistry class if there was a little filter — similar to the ones that are made for camping to purify water — that they could make from inexpensive components to easily remove lead. The students were excited about the idea, and they started thinking about the project in 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions kept them out of the classroom. While at home, the team met virtually and discussed designs for an attachment to screw a filter onto a sink’s faucet. Then in the spring...

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Biden administration issued guidance to states on Tuesday that it said will ensure the country’s largest-ever investment in water infrastructure doesn’t bypass disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately affected by environmental hazards like pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency’s guidance memo applies to $43 billion from the infrastructure bill for making drinking water cleaner, improving sewage treatment and replacing lead pipes. The agency said the memo helps the Biden Administration meet its goal of addressing environmental needs in communities that often have high rates of poverty and unemployment. The money will be distributed over five years and...

To the Editor: "Last week I substituted at a local elementary school in Lebanon County. The lesson plan required me to read the 1882 poem “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore to two classes of students. While I can appreciate the poem for its literary value, the subject matter is offensive to me, and the reading of this poem to the children imposed values upon me which are against my deeply held religious beliefs. I could not in good conscience present the notion of Santa Claus as a truth to the children, and stated so. No public school...