*A youth basketball center in California may have to close because it has no wheelchair access. Basketball Town in Rancho Cordova has so far spent $100,000 defending a lawsuit from quadriplegic Derrick Ross, who says the lack of wheelchair access kept him from attending his 6-year-old nephew’s birthday party on the building’s second floor. Barring state intervention or a last-minute benefactor, the facility will close its doors this week. “This place has done a lot for us,” said Karen Cedres of the Solano County Hurricanes youth basketball league. “It’s heartbreaking.”
*The entire city council of Ashland, Ore., has decided to enter relationship counseling. The catalyst was Councilman David Chapman’s telling Councilman Eric Navickas to “shut your f---ing mouth” during last week’s meeting, though Navickas had previously called the city’s mayor “a Nazi,” and tensions have generally been running high. Taxpayers will pay $37,000 for the council’s five months of therapy, which “may seem like a lot of money,” said City Administrator Martha Bennett. “But if the council doesn’t function, the city doesn’t function.”
