You’re bound to hear about this sooner or later if you haven’t already. Disneyland is rehabbing the “It’s a Small World After All” ride because boats keep getting stuck going through it. The reason would seem obvious — Americans are getting so overweight, they’re causing the boats to bottom out on the ride. But Disney doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

The boats get stuck because “layers and layers” of fiberglass have built up where maintenance teams have patched and re-patched problem areas, said Disneyland Resort spokesman Bob Tucker.

Sure. There’s a reason they call it Fantasyland, I suppose.

If I were Disney, I wouldn’t worry about hurting our feelings. Considering there’s a “Fat Lady’s Guide to Disneyland,” I would venture to say our expanding waistlines are second only to our overdeveloped self-esteem.

Just a couple of things I’ve been checking out today:

• BBC Radio 4 has just started a series on the British Newspaper Industry, but it could just as easily be about the newspaper industry in the U.S. The first episode asks if it’s time to write the print newspaper’s obituary; it’s called A Farewell to Print.
• There’s a new survey out there called Reveal that is being used to try to determine the spiritual health of churches based on something other than simply how many people a church has attending or participating. The survey was sponsored by Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and has led to that megachurch rethinking its philosophy of ministry.

It was a pleasant surprise this morning to see faithful Chronicle readers Mitch and Nancy Mitchell in the “Neighbors” section of the paper being honored for their neighborhood advocacy work:

The awards given out that night recognized individual members of the community who gave unselfishly. The prestigious Mayor’s Award went to Mitch and Nancy Mitchell of East Bluff United Neighborhood Association. The award is for those who have given tirelessly to improve their neighborhood for a number of years.

On a daily basis, it’s not unusual for a dozen neighborhood children to stop by the Mitchells’ home for a snack or a chat with the couple. Usually it’s just “Miss Nancy” who is at home in the afternoons when they drop in, but Mitch is often there on weekends to have “guy talks” with the neighborhood students, who range from 4 to 14 years old.

Congratulations, Mitch & Nancy! 🙂

Ali al-Marri, suspected and detained “enemy combatant” that moved to Peoria on September 10, 2001, was the subject of a news report on NPR’s Morning Edition this morning. “A federal appeals court in Virginia is set to hear arguments on whether he should be charged or released from military custody.” If the government is right about him and he was/is a “sleeper” for al-Qaida, it makes me a little worried that he chose to live here in Peoria, and it makes me wonder if Peoria could be some sort of future target.

The New York Times says it’s because the candy companies lobbied for it to help candy sales on Halloween.

Like they always say, “follow the money.” Incidentally, I always hated getting money on Halloween. I wanted candy. And if anyone wants to really ruin a kid’s night, give them mini-carrots. It will be met with the same excitement as when Charlie Brown looked in his trick-or-treat bag and announced with dismay, “I got a rock.”

From CNNMoney.com:

CARPINTERIA, Calif., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — CKE Restaurants, Inc. announced today the sale of 26 restaurants as part of its ongoing strategic refranchising program that was originally announced in April, 2007. The initiative is expected to involve approximately 200 Hardee’s restaurant locations in a number of markets across the Midwest and Southeast. To date, the Company has sold 106 restaurants to franchisees and secured commitments for 44 new franchise restaurants under development agreements for those markets.

The Company most recently completed the sale of 26 restaurants in the Peoria and Quincy, Illinois markets to Shree Krishna Food, LLC. Shree Krishna has also committed to build six new Hardee’s restaurant locations in these markets over the next six years. The transaction was brokered by Franchise Resale Consultants, LLC, d/b/a Praetorian Group.

“We are excited to take over 26 Hardee’s locations in the Peoria and Quincy markets and look forward to developing new locations in the coming years” said Shree Krishna President Sam Patel. “We will be working hard with Hardee’s to continue its success with the Thickburger Revolution.”

Peoria locations include the Hardee’s at 4100 W. Willow Knolls Rd., and the Hardee’s/Red Burrito locations at 3505 N.E. Adams and 8787 N. Knoxville Ave.

This year, the federal government changed the date that we set our clocks back an hour. It’s usually the last Sunday in October, but this year it’s the first Sunday in November. Did anyone set back their clocks Sunday morning/Saturday night out of habit? Or did your electronic clocks set themselves back?

I noticed that WEEK-TV’s bug was an hour off during the 10:00 news Sunday night. And the Chicago Tribune reports that some Sony clocks and T-Mobile Blackberry devices automatically set their clocks back early.

The Summers household, however, does not have any such fancy gadgets. Other than the laptop, we have to reset all of our clocks manually for Daylight Saving Time. I’m looking forward to the extra hour of sleep this coming Saturday.

In 1994, six children burned to death in this van. WLS-TV in Chicago explains:

Rev. Scott Willis and his family were driving on a Wisconsin interstate when a piece of metal fell off a semi tractor trailer truck. It punctured the gas tank on their minivan, which burst into flames. The driver of that semi had illegally purchased his commercial drivers’ license. The crash ignited the investigation Operation Safe Road, a scandal that paved the way to Ryan’s trial.

Yes, the licenses-for-bribes scandal came out of this accident. Ryan got campaign money and the Willises got six little coffins. So excuse me for not feeling sorry for poor old George Ryan as he faces six years in the slammer. His attorneys, led by former Gov. James Thompson, want us to pity the crook:

“He is a 73-year-old grandfather whose life revolves around his 17 grandchildren,” the attorneys said. […] Thompson noted that at Ryan’s age six years behind bars would be “a real threat to the governor and his health.”

Cry me a river. What about the “real threat” to motorists all over this and surrounding states that resulted from Ryan’s graft and corruption? What about their families? What about the grandparents whose lives revolved around those six Willis grandchildren? They won’t get to enjoy their grandchildren anymore, will they? At least Ryan’s grandchildren can visit him in the pokey.

Even the dissenting opinion of the appeals court said “the evidence of the defendant’s guilt was overwhelming,” and only took issue with the process. Not to minimize the point that the process is important, but the result is going to be the same even if they have another trial. Ryan is guilty. He should be in prison now. Let him have his retrial, if necessary, so we can say we preserved the integrity of the system, but let him mount his defense from the big house.

The Times of London is reporting that there will be no parking at the 2012 Olympic Games in that city:

The team organising the London Olympics in 2012 is adopting the most aggressive anticar policy ever applied to a major event in an attempt to deliver a permanent shift in people’s travel habits.

The eight million spectators will be banned from travelling by car and forced to take public transport, walk or cycle. Only a small number of disabled people will be allowed to park anywhere near the car exclusion zones planned for the main venues in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Cardiff, and Weymouth and Portland in Dorset.

This isn’t London’s first foray into changing commuters’ behavior. In 2003, they instituted what they call a “congestion charge” of £8 ($16.38) per day for driving downtown. It worked. According to the Times, “London is the only major city in the world that has had a decline in car use and an increase in bus and rail travel.”

Ironically, the fittest people at the Olympics — the athletes — will be able to drive in ahead of time.