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What's the largest fast junk food chain in the country? Wrong. It's not McDonald's. It's Subway. Subway overtook McDonald's last year in the United States and now has 15,874 locations in the U.S. compared to 11,533 for McDonald's. Worldwide, Subway has 21,528 restaurants in 75 countries. McDonald's has more than 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries. Subway founder Fred DeLuca says he wants 30,000 outlets worldwide by 2010. Of course, Subway would not want you to think that it is not a fast junk food chain. In fact, the privately held firm has overtaken McDonald's by riding a wave of publicity...

Principals Cut Recess Time Schools Want More Time For Instruction POSTED: 5:52 pm EST March 23, 2006 UPDATED: 11:15 pm EST March 23, 2006 FALL RIVER, Mass. -- Two elementary schools in Fall River have decided to eliminate morning recess to give kids more time to study. NBC 10's Larry Estepa talked to parents who call that decision a mistake. "I absolutely believe they should have recess. I'm a liaison for the school, and I'm the one who's advocating for recess," said Kathy King, a parent of a third-grader. Fall River Superintendent Nicholas Fischer said some of his principals decided...

New Zealand Lance Corporal Josh Whitehead puts the finishing touches to the swing set he built for Markaz Girls' High School in Bamyan, Afghanistan. Standing in front is U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brian Curtis. New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team photo Kiwis Build Playground For Afghan Children The playground equipment was built in three weeks with scrap metal from around the compound. By Staff Sergeant Tim RoweNew Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team BAMYAN, Afghanistan, Nov. 18, 2005 — The New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan recently built a swing set and basketball court at Markaz Girls' High School near...

BURLINGAME, Calif. - The city of Burlingame has paid $1,600 to obscure a design at the newly opened Pershing Park playground that a resident felt resembled the Star of David. The park was closed on Thursday of last week while a contractor filled in a pattern in the playground's surface that consisted of six yellow stars laid out in the shape of the Star of David. Residents had complained it was disrespectful for children to step on the design. The pattern was changed to an arch shape that more closely resembles a sun. The original contractor made a mistake in...

Innovative troops turn scrap metal into playground swings and slides for the children of a Kirkuk orphanage. FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARRIOR, Iraq, Sept. 1, 2005 — Children at one Kirkuk orphanage now have a playground full of new equipment, thanks to the efforts of the headquarters company of the 116th Brigade Combat Team’s Task Force 2-116 Armor who installed a custom-built playground set Aug. 19. While doing an assessment of a Kirkuk orphanage back in March, the unit noticed run-down playground equipment that was inadequate for the number of children. One metalworker in the group, U.S. Army Sgt. Fenton Doyle,...

FOB WARRIOR, Iraq— Children at one Kirkuk orphanage now have a playground full of new equipment, thanks to the efforts of the headquarters company of the 116th Brigade Combat Team’s Task Force 2-116 Armor who installed a custom-built playground set August 19. While doing an assessment of a Kirkuk orphanage back in March, the unit noticed run-down playground equipment that was inadequate for the number of children. One metalworker in the group, Sgt. Fenton Doyle, decided to use his talent to build new equipment. “Sgt. Doyle spent his spare time gathering and welding scrap metal constructing several toys for the...

Andrea Levin is grateful that Broward County schools care about her daughter's safety. But this year when they posted a sign that demanded "no running" on the playground, it seemed like overkill. "I realize we want to keep kids from cracking their heads open," said Levin, whose daughter is a Gator Run Elementary fifth grader in Weston. "But there has to be a place where they can get out and run." Broward's "Rules of the Playground" signs, bought from an equipment catalogue and displayed at all 137 elementary schools in the district, are just one of several steps taken to...

BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS Bibles banned on playgrounds Legal group challenges restriction on student activity during recess Posted: May 12, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com     An elemenatary school principal who barred students from reading the Bible during recess after a complaint from parents is violating the Constitution, according to a public-interest law firm challenging his actions. In a letter to the Knox County School District in Tennesee, the Alliance Defense Fund declared the principal of Karns Elementary School is on "shaky constitutional ground."   "The Constitution does not prohibit Bibles during recess; it prohibits the wholesale banning of...

PLANO, Texas -- Some Plano parents are furious that swingsets are disappearing from school playgrounds. The Plano Independent School District told NBC 5 that all swingsets have been removed from all elementary schools throughout the district because of safety concerns. Parents said taking the swings out is taking the fun out of being a child. Kristine Conley said the move is a disappointing sign of the times. "Well, sure it can be dangerous. It's just as dangerous as riding a bike and falling down. But, it is just part of growing up," Conley said. The Plano ISD said the move...

Wednesday, September 15, 2004 'Gay Day' at Six Flags protestedGroup to picket outside theme park, urge families to boycott Posted: September 15, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com One day after controversy erupted over a "Muslims-only" day planned for a New Jersey Six Flags theme park this week, a Texas Six Flags amusement park is coming under fire for its planned "Gay Day." Organizers of ProtestGayDay.com say they're following their yearly tradition of protesting the unofficial "Gay Day" at the theme park this Saturday. Like they did last year, pro-family Texans will gather at the entrance of the park with signs to...

Gay Day at Six Flags Over Texas September 18th , 2004 September 18 is the 9th Annual Gay Day at Six Flags Over Texas. This event has taken place for the last 8 years in a row and this is the 9th year. This event is sponsored by a homosexual newspaper called The Dallas Voice and advertised as "Gay Day at Six Flags," in established homosexual publications like Texas Triangle, QTexas and many highly trafficked websites. Due directly to this form of advertising, thousands of homosexuals attend this event from all over Texas. "Gay Day at Six Flags" takes place...

(AgapePress) - A Christian activist group has developed a three-point strategy to warn unsuspecting families coming to Orlando, Florida, about the very family-unfriendly homosexual pride festival known as "Gay Days at Walt Disney World." The Christian Action Network (CAN) is engaging in an all-out effort to inform families, school groups, and others of what they can expect from the homosexual event long before they enter the so-called Magic Kingdom. The group plans to use literature, road signs, and even a mobile advertisement to get the word out about the offensive and often X-rated goings on at the Walt Disney World...

A bevy of smiling, overjoyed preschoolers welcomed a new playground at Jane Reynolds Park Thursday, oblivious to the history of the ground beneath their feet. The surface of the playground, at the corner of Oldfield Street and Elm Avenue, is made up of approximately 1,275 recycled waste tires - about 24 cubic yards of tires - on top of an asphalt base. The rubberized surface creates a foamy, spongy feel that is soft and bouncy to the touch. The surface also meets Americans with Disabilities Act standards, providing a smooth surface for wheelchairs to roll on, said Bob Greene, assistant...

<p>STAMFORD, Connecticut (AP) --A 2-year-old model and actor who cut his head at a playground is seeking unspecified lost wages and other compensation from the city.</p> <p>Konrad Mader of Greenwich was running toward a treehouse at a playground November 4 when he crashed into a railing, according to a claim filed last week by his mother and reported Friday by The Advocate of Stamford. The blond toddler received several stitches.</p>

Stamford Boy Cuts Head On Railing STAMFORD, Conn. -- A 2-year-old model and actor is seeking unspecified lost wages and other compensation from Stamford after cutting his head at a playground. Konrad Mader of Greenwich was running toward a treehouse at a playground Nov. 4 when he crashed into a railing, according to a claim filed last week by his mother and reported Friday by The Advocate newspaper of Stamford. The blond-haired toddler received several stitches. Deena Mader, the youngster's mother, does not specify how much she is seeking from the city. In a letter to officials, she demands compensation...

<p>Playing for the Pittsfield High School baseball team in Illinois, Danny Hannant threw a pitch that a Calhoun High School player hit in a line drive right at the pitcher's mound. The ball bounced off Hannant's head.</p> <p>Rather than blame the mishap on a lousy pitch or a missed catch, or on the intrinsic risks of the game, Hannant sued the maker of the bat, Hillerich & Bradsby. Seeking in excess of $1 million, Hannant's lawyer argued that the company should have put labels on its Louisville Slugger bats warning that the product "could cause a baseball to be propelled with such velocity that when hit directly towards a pitcher it does not allow the pitcher sufficient reaction time to avoid being struck."</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators Tuesday denied a request to ban arsenic-treated lumber used in playground equipment, which environmentalists say poses a health hazard. The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously to adopt its staff's finding and recommendation that a ban was not needed because most manufacturers already have stopped using the treated wood and other makers soon will follow suit. The lumber in question is treated with a pesticide, chromated copper arsenate, that protects it from decay and insect damage. Almost all wooden playground equipment has been treated with the pesticide. The concern is that children can get cancer-causing...

<p>Callaghan Elementary's fourth-graders returned to school this fall to an unusual new recess activity. Worried the nine-year-olds have too much independent playground time, the Virginia school decided to have them walk the track.</p> <p>"The teachers will make it fun," Principal Nancy Moga says. One possibility: Kids may plot how many miles they've logged for math class.</p>

Kindergartener's Suspension Appealed To Supreme Court Playground Gunplay Case Goes To High Court POSTED: 8:35 a.m. EDT September 19, 2003 SAYREVILLE, N.J. -- Lawyers representing the family of a boy suspended from kindergarten after a playground game involving make-believe guns have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit group focused on First Amendment and religious freedom cases, announced the appeal on Thursday. According to The Rutherford Institute, four kindergarten boys at Wilson Elementary School were playing cops and robbers during recess in March 2000, using their fingers as guns. The boy represented by...

By Charles W. Colson Commentary from BreakPoint The Cleveland Avenue School in Atlanta has all the amenities you would expect a new school to have: computer equipment, an up-to-date library, and modern classrooms. It has everything except a playground. No, it wasn't an oversight. It was designed that way, in order to make little boys behave more like little girls. And it's part of a trend. In 1998, Atlanta eliminated recess in its elementary schools. Other cities, like Philadelphia, retained something called recess, but it bears little resemblance to the unstructured play time most of us enjoyed as kids. Why?...