Word: fondly
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Norma Westfield eases her wheelchair out of the elevator of her apartment, through the front door and to the Handi-Van waiting in front of her building. It is a vehicle with hydraulic lifts that the city of Fond du Lac offers to disabled residents. Westfield, 43, who has used a wheelchair since she was stricken with polio as a child, relies on the Handi-Van to reach her doctor's office and a local hospital where she does volunteer work. She is not strong enough to push herself to the bus stop a block away, and during the winter...
...Fond du Lac, a town of 40,000 curled along the shores of Lake Winnebago, lifts will boost the price tag on each new bus $15,000. Operating and maintenance expenses will tack on an additional $5,000 each year. City-council members worry about finding enough money to both continue the Handi-Van service and install lifts on the city's fleet of twelve buses, half of which are due to be replaced this year...
Disabled-rights groups lobbied hard to defeat an amendment to the bill that would have exempted transit systems in cities of fewer than 200,000. They argued that disabled people should not be segregated in special buses or vans. But Stan Kocos, chairman of Disabled Advocates of Fond du Lac, admits that his group was torn between support for the new law and the Handi-Van. Says Kocos: "We want lifts on buses, and we want the alternative service. But we'd hate to see a taxpayer backlash...
Though finding accessible housing remains a problem for Fond du Lac's disabled, the city has made progress in opening some public accommodations. Movie theaters have removed rows of seats to make room for people in wheelchairs. Several service stations offer to pump gas at no extra charge for disabled drivers, and grocery stores provide electric carts for shoppers who cannot navigate the long aisles. Parking spaces marked with the blue-and-white symbol of a wheelchair are vigilantly guarded; anyone who illegally slips into one is subject to a $30 fine. Rather than rely on police to enforce...
...especially true when it comes to Japan given that the Pentagon looks at Japan as an "an unsinkable aircraft carrier" in the Far East where we have placed premium value on base rights at Camp Zama, Yokosuka, Yokota, Misawa, Iwakuni and throughout Okinawa Prefecture. While not every Japanese is fond of U.S. bases on Japanese soil, the deal has been sweetened by virtually throwing open the U.S. market to Japanese goods...