New ‘Star’ Moves into White House

WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Barack Obama marked his first 100 days in office last month, and it wasn’t just political pundits nipping at his heels. It turns out that the first family’s new puppy, Bo, likes to chew on people’s feet!

The 6-month-old Portuguese water dog got to meet the press on the lawn of the White House on April 14. The presidential pup was greeted with much fanfare by reporters and photographers. “He’s got star quality,” remarked the president.

Obama promised a puppy to his daughters, Sasha and Malia, while he was campaigning for president. Bo is a gift to the Obamas from Sen. Edward Kennedy. The Kennedy family has several Portuguese water dogs as well. This curly haired canine is a breed that does not trigger allergies, a requirement since Malia is allergic to animal dander.

“We love our Portuguese water dogs and know that the girls—and their parents—will love theirs, too,” said Kennedy in a statement.

Sasha and Malia named the puppy, but Michelle Obama is the one shouldering most of the dog-walking duty. The first lady has made an early morning walk with Bo part of her daily routine. Maybe she is trying to tire him out so that she can sleep. She recently revealed that Bo’s rambunctious play woke her and the president one evening. “It was like 10 o’clock. Everybody was asleep and we hear all this barking and jumping around,” Mrs. Obama told a group of children visiting the White House.

“The president and I came out and we thought somebody was out there. And it was just Bo. He was playing with his ball. And it was like there was another person in the house,” she said. “(Bo’s) kind of crazy, but he’s still a puppy so he likes to play a lot.” The first lady also shared that Bo “loves to chew on people’s feet!”

Mrs. Obama says she loves Bo in spite of his antics, and she calls him the “most famous member” of the first family.

Bo is neutered, but some animal rights groups have criticized the president for not getting a shelter dog.

Schools Scramble as Swine Flu Hits AZ

As in many other states, swine flu has arrived in Arizona. And schools here are scrambling to keep this flu bug from spreading among students!

Several of those catching the A/H1N1 flu (commonly called the swine flu) have been kids, forcing schools across the nation, including a few Arizona schools, to shut down for up to a week!

The outbreak of the flu began in Mexico in late April. As of press time, that country had more than 1,600 confirmed cases and 48 deaths due to A/H1N1. The same flu quickly cropped up in at least 29 other countries, including the United States.

So far, more than 2,500 Americans have tested positive for the flu bug, which has hit 44 states. Fortunately, almost everybody who caught this flu has made a full recovery. Three people in the United States have died from it.

An 8-year-old boy from Moon Mountain Elementary in north Phoenix was the first Arizona student known to have the flu. To prevent the sickness from spreading, school officials shut down the school for almost a week even though the kid was already better.

“The decision to close Moon Mountain…because of swine flu came to us through Dr. Bob England of the Maricopa County Department of Health. That (was) the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control, and that’s exactly what we did,” explains Carol Donaldson, communications director for Washington Elementary School District.

“Even though the flu bug itself lives only for about 48 hours, we will be sanitizing the building from stem to stern to make sure there’s no chance that there’s any kind of virus or germ left in the building,” she continues. Two other schools up in Phoenix also shut down to prevent the flu from spreading.

In the border town of Nogales, Ariz., school officials shut down all 10 of the schools after a student had the swine flu.

Every person should wash his or her hands frequently to help keep the swine flu from spreading. If you need to cough, try coughing into your elbow and not your hand.

And if you feel really sick and have flu-like symptoms—a fever above 101° F, sore throat, cough, intense body aches or headache—definitely don’t bring it to school!