Alice Barnes bouncing back

The ever-resilient Alice Barnes might have offered a quasi-scientific opinion just a bit too soon.

Not long ago during a debate about the addition of chloramine to San Bruno's drinking water, the outspoken resident of that fair burg noted wryly that, in spite of her delicate cardiac history, she had not suffered a heart attack while quaffing the controversial liquid.

So much for that theory. Barnes, a community gadfly who has been plagued by health problems for many years, went down with her fifth heart attack in 18 months late last week.

She's home now. According to her, she was drinking nonfat milk at the time of the medical emergency. Alice, for crying out loud, stick to designer agua in the future.