It’s about 100 degrees Fahrenheit this weekend, there’s acode orange air alert, and local TV stations tell inner-city kids tonot open fire hydrants but go to their community swimming pools. 

Sadly,I just learned that Alexandria’s newest pool, in the Charles Houston CommunityCenter, is closed on weekends!

Thisis a poor area to make a budget cut when childrens health is concerned.Ironically, this brand new pool was dedicated in February to Alexandria’sAfrican American youths who died swimming in the Potomac because they wereprohibited from using segregated city pools.
 
Please let our inner-city kids enjoy their pool on weekends. Michele Obamawould want kids to play safely and actively instead of sitting inside.
 
– Mary Ann Shelton

Alexandria