Federal agency orders recall of faulty stadium lighting poles

From The Austin American-Statesman: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has ordered a nationwide recall of stadium lighting poles manufactured by a Fort Worth company that designed and sold about a dozen of the giant towers that have crashed without warning during the past three years. Most of the accidents occurred at public schools in Texas, including incidents in Hays County and Round Rock. In addition to the poles that have toppled, nearly 100 more were found to have developed potentially dangerous cracks at their bases, most only a few years after their installation. No one has been hurt because of the faulty towers, although there have been several close calls. In March 2009, when a 125-foot pole at the Hays school district's Bob Shelton Stadium toppled and slammed onto a high school gymnasium, about 60 people were in the stadium at the time.