Etc...

Well, it might have been gray

"When I saw the white one, I didn't believe it," Stewart Bubar said. "I wanted to make sure it was really white." Huh? Who is Stewart Bubar, and what is he talking about? And, anyway, how do you confuse the absence of color with the presence thereof? Answer: He is the newly reelected chairman of the Culver City (Calif.) Board of Education. But only after the process required some unusual measures. Originally, he and Roger Maxwell tied last month for the remaining seat on the board, with 1,141 votes each. Since a runoff would have cost an estimated $85,000, it was decided to break the tie by obliging them to reach into bags filled with red, white, and blue marbles. The first to pull out a white would win. At that, it took four turns before the issue was settled.

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control is the most highly regarded of 11 federal agencies, according to the results of an online poll by Harris Interactive. The survey asked more than 2,000 adults nationwide if they understood what the agencies do, and whether they are doing a good job. All but one received positive ratings. How the agencies stacked up, by percentage of respondents who judged them "pretty good" to "excellent":

1. Centers for Disease Control 90%
2. National Institutes of Health 80
3. Federal Aviation Administration 76
4. Federal Bureau of Investigation 69
5. Food and Drug Administration 68
6. Securities and Exchange Commission (tie) Central Intelligence Agency 57
8. Department of Homeland Security 56
9. Environmental Protection Agency 55
10. Internal Revenue Service 51
11. Social Security Administration 48
- PR Newswire