Florida: Tennis the Menace?

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Other Americans may find their ears assaulted by honking horns and wailing sirens, but the wealthy denizens of Palm Beach, Fla., suffer a particular annoyance: the thok, thok, thok of electrically powered ball machines in use on backyard tennis courts. Some residents have raised a high-decibel clamor about the infernal machines, and are seeking to limit their use to the same "hours of construction" permitted sandblasters and jackhammers. In short, not before breakfast, not at the cocktail hour and never on Sunday.

For those unlucky Palm Beachers with 9-to-5 jobs, the new ordinance would rule out early-morning and evening tennis workouts from the beginning of December through April. Town-council members have already outlawed shirtless joggers, neon signs and cemeteries.