WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. (To access color photos of the following recalled products, see CPSC's Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov.)

This can pose a head injury hazard to riders in a fall.

In our view: Common sense is the best reason to applaud helmet law

If you have wheels under you, better have a helmet over you. That’s the message from the Vancouver City Council, which on Monday passed a law requiring helmets on riders of bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, roller blades, scooters and unicycles on public streets, sidewalks and trails.

Both supporters and opponents of the helmet law are able to debate this topic ad infinitum, and anecdotal references often cloud their arguments, but our preference is to rely on basic common sense. It just stands to reason that riders of these wheeled implements should be required to wear helmets in public places for reasons of public safety.

Retired music teacher making ‘dramatic’ recovery

A former Wausau orchestra teacher hates to miss his son direct the music for a theater production this week but has little choice while he continues to recover from a brain injury suffered in an Aug. 30 collision between his bike and a school bus.

Chuck Olsen, 64, is a retired John Muir Middle School teacher who since has traveled the country six to eight months of the year, often on a bicycle. It was while biking with his wife, Pat, in northwestern Indiana that the life-altering crash happened as Chuck rode across a roadway on the Prairie-Duneland Trail and struck the passing bus.

The impact threw Olsen from the bike, shattering his helmet.

Family members from Wausau, Florida and Kentucky traveled to a hospital in Illinois within 20 hours of the crash.

Wis. College to Give Bikes to Freshmen

(AP) RIPON, Wis. - A tiny liberal arts college here hopes it has found an answer to a nagging shortage of campus parking: a bicycle giveaway.

Last fall, for the first time in Ripon College history, the number of parking permit applications exceeded the 400 permits available, Joyce said.

Black-legged adult tick infection at 60 percent

More than half -- 60 percent -- of the adult black-legged ticks in Fairfield County may be infected with Lyme disease bacteria -- a much higher rate than customarily thought, a new study has found.

This does not necessarily foretell an increase in human cases in the region. People can see and remove adult ticks more readily than tiny nymphal ticks -- which are most responsible for the spread of Lyme disease to humans.

But it does add another reason for people to be on the alert against tick bites in spring, summer and fall.

"It may be that just as people wear sunscreen and wear bicycle safety helmets, they'll have to make preventive steps against ticks part of their daily routine,'' Jennifer Reid, of the Ridgefield Lyme Disease Task Force, said Monday.

The study is part of the ongoing work of the Fairfield County Municipal Deer Management Alliance -- a 14-town organization dedicated to controlling the number of white-tailed deer in the region.

Man On Bicycle Hit Crossing Beach Boulevard

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A vehicle heading west on Beach Boulevard in front of the KMart tried to avoid a bus that was either slowing or stopping in the right lane when it struck a man on a bicycle, according to police.

Tech Report: More from the SICI Symposium

Before moving on to less important matters, I'd like to acknowledge the passing on Monday of Sheldon Brown, one of the giants of bicycle maintenance, technology and general bicycle mechanical understanding.

Vancouver city council enacts helmet law

Beginning in 30 days, all cyclists and skaters in Vancouver will have to strap on helmets or risk receiving a $50 ticket. The city council, by a 5-1 vote Monday, decided to require both juveniles and adults to wear helmets when riding bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, roller blades, scooters and unicycles on public streets, sidewalks and trails. Once the law takes effect, Vancouver will become the first city in Clark County to require helmets. Safety was the prime reason for the law. Councilwoman Jeanne Harris recounted how, more than 25 years ago, a bicyclist wearing a helmet smacked into her car and walked away. "I can’t tell you how it affected me that I could have hurt somebody," Harris said. "You can’t plan not to have an accident, and that is what’s this is about.

'Bikeability:' Does the region have the right stuff?

Cyclists ride past the Roanoke River on Saturday, a spot growing in popularity with bikers, runners and walkers. The greenway is an asset as the League of American Bicyclists comes to Roanoke this week to check out how bicycle-friendly the area is.