Ding a ding dang. When did Blaine Young get a gig on the BOARD OF CONTRIBUTORS at the FNP?

This buffoon did remind a yokel that we need to give a huge shout out to some public commenters at last Tuesday’s meeting. We had well thought out statements from several of our dependable, well-informed, engaged residents, and thanks go out to them again for keeping on top of our county business and keeping our representatives in check. Democracy doesn’t work without involved citizens.

Particularly  the PTA Presidents of Hillcrest and Urbana Elementary Schools should be lauded for staying through a long meeting in order to have the chance at the very end of the night to speak up, in a united voice, about the needs of their students and school communities.

Blaine has decided to take to the keyboard in defense of the have nots’ right to be equally exposed to potentially carcinogenic (who can say? not the federal government at any rate) turf. Turf which has also been linked to higher frequency of concussions and sprained ankles, burn, and a malady called “turf toe”…whatever that is. In the sun a turf field gets as hot as Qatar. Women athletes of FIFA have pointed to artificial turf as a blatant point of discrimination, as the men would never be expected to play a single beautiful game in a World Cup tournament on anything inferior to natural grass.

And moving right along, what is all this noise about sports for anyway? This same logic should apply first and foremost to sorely needed school construction. The primary purpose of schools is education (duh). Before we get involved in complaining that FCPS builds new sports stadiums according to modern standards, and old stadiums are old–this is really as stupid as it sounds, isn’t it?–we should be hearing Mr. Young advocating for modern *school* buildings in Middletown and Urbana and Waverley, where they are still using open concept floor plans as though it is 1970. Or for the students of Centerville, who started out with a shiny, happy new school that could hardly begin to hold all of them.  And for the students of Hillcrest.  If memory serves, the portables are now so old they are visibly decaying. How is anyone supposed to take this Blaine Young turf war seriously? Kudos again to Hillcrest and Urbana’s PTA communities for not turning a shared need for construction funding into their own turf war.