Apparently, even the sanctity of the bond between mother and newborn child isn't sacred to those who would spy: Check out this surveillance photo.

Our West Norriton Little League has won Pennsylvania's East Regional title for 10- to 11-year-olds, and is going for the state championship!!

More parkland news from my hometown ... also, it's worth noting that digging has already begun for improvements to the less polished of West Norriton's two Burnside Avenue baseball diamonds ... and, finally, an interesting firsthand piece on Philadelphia's cheesesteak wars.

(Note: As a suburbanite, I am slightly agnostic when it comes to cheesesteak allegiances. I would have wanted to like Jim's on South Street because that was my old 'hood downtown, but I just can't get behind wiz. I plead mercy on the Pat's vs. Gino's controversy -- they're both delicious. As for Tony Luke's, well, I will admit they make the best pork sandwich I've ever tasted; however, I do not buy their rights to represent cheesesteaks to the world. I like my hoagies from Lou's, my cheesesteaks from Pudge's II or Del's and my pizza from Charlie's. And I gotta go to Rick's before they're drummed out of town, I suppose.)

This is what happened to my first grade school. (Scroll down to the other environmental news section.) Burnside Elementary School had a fabulous playground, delicious tomato soup, memorably good teachers (a special shout out to Mrs. Kulp) and, apparently, an asbestos problem. Did I mention that it was walking distance from my home -- if I kept up with the bigger kids. It still looks a bit empty without the old brick building and the old tennis courts are a wee bit unkempt. But, all in all, I'd file this report under "good news."

I have yet to weigh them or dig into them, but I can say that my textbooks for two community college courses this Fall are heavy lifting at least physically. I'm hoping they're solid, but not overwhelming intellectually.