January 30, 2012
The Leaning Tower of Pisa has competition.
A committee of British MPs is trying to find a way to keep Parliament’s famous clock tower from tilting further, after surveyors found out it was indeed leaning.
Construction expert John Burland said, “If you stand in Parliament Square and look towards it, you can just see that it moves very slightly to the left.”
“But I wouldn’t put any political slant on that,’’ he quipped.
OK, Old-timer, Don’t Give Me Any Trouble — POW!
A mugger approached an 84-year-old man on the street in Cambridge, England, pulled a large knife and demanded cash. The old guy, a retired professional boxer, decked him with one punch.
An embarrassing misspelling of “school” is gone from the street outside a New York City school building.
A misspelled school crossing sign is torn out of the pavement, Tuesday, Jan. 24 2012 on the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York.
Utility workers used heavy machinery to ground up the wrongly placed “H” and “C” in the “SHCOOL X-NG” sign on Tuesday.
The correction was made a day after the New York Post reported the spelling error.
The words were created with industrial “textured tape” that permanently sticks to the asphalt.
Con Ed told the Post that the blunder occurred when a contractor ripped up the street for utility work and replaced the existing markings.
It says the mistake outside the Lower East Side building that houses three schools had been there since July 2010.
Interesting Note: StudentNewsDaily’s editor used to teach at a school in this building.
A new roller coaster in England should be called The Amputator.
The $31 million thrill ride at Thorpe Park, called The Swarm, had to be redesigned after crash dummies on a test run came back with missing limbs.
A wild moose was no match for an 85-year-old woman.
Dorothea Murphy saw the huge animal attacking her 82-year-old husband near Anchorage, Alaska, and sprang into action.
The 5-foot-tall woman, who weighs 97 pounds, bashed it on the head with a shovel — and it took off.
A New Jersey man’s boat made an Atlantic crossing without him.
Scott Douglas abandoned his 26-foot fishing vessel, the Queen Bee, during a storm off Nantucket in 2008, CBS News reported.
The boat was recently found floating 20 miles off the coast of Spain.
From The Boston Herald and The NY Post.
January 24, 2012
Check Abraham Lincoln wrote day before being shot is found
A personal check that Abraham Lincoln wrote the day before he was assassinated is among those that were rediscovered by an Ohio bank.
The Plain Dealer in Cleveland reports that 70 checks were found in a vault at Huntington Bank’s Columbus headquarters, including checks signed by George Washington, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Thomas Edison. Some are being displayed at branches throughout the state.
The Lincoln check had been made out to “self” for $800.
The checks had been stored in a vault since at least 1983, when Huntington took over another bank. An employee had begun looking through old boxes last year, which led to the discovery of the checks.
Where is the Professionalism? …
A man was sitting in his car outside his home in Cambridge, England, when a young thief opened the man’s rear door, snatched his computer and ran off. The victim, who happened to be a champion long-distance runner, immediately gave chase. He later said he was appalled at how quickly he caught up with the guy, despite a sizable head start. “If you are going to go into the snatch-and-run business at least try and get fit,” he said.
N.Korean ambassador breaks law in Germany, police can’t arrest him
North Korea’s ambassador to Germany has become embroiled in a diplomatic incident in Berlin, several German dailies reported on Jan. 20, after being caught fishing in a local river without a license.
According to media reports, police spotted a man fishing on the Havel river in western Berlin and asked him for his permit, required by law in Germany to fish.
The man had neither identity papers nor a license and so the authorities informed him, in English, that he was in fact breaking the law. Fishing without a permit in Germany can result in a fine or even two years behind bars.
He smiled, replied that he was the North Korean ambassador and continued to fish.
Checks revealed that the man was indeed Si Hong Ri, North Korea’s ambassador to Germany, and the police were unable to take further action due to diplomatic immunity.
From The Boston Herald, NY Post and AsiaOne.
January 16, 2012
SpongeBob Square Pants to the rescue!
Jet Skier Eric Bettanin survived nine hours adrift off Australia’s South Coast, and he’s crediting his loud, yellow SpongeBob shorts for the feat. He wore the “silly” shorts around his head to keep warm, and waved them at a passing boat to finally be rescued.
“As silly as it sounds, they made quite a significant difference to my core temperature,” Bettanin said. “I bought them the other day as a bit of a joke.”
Canada was prepared for terrorists — but it wasn’t prepared for mollusks.
The Canadian navy tried to protect the harbor in Halifax from attack by putting up a huge underwater net that would keep bomb-laden terrorist boats from getting near ships and exploding.
The plan failed miserably, however, when the net became covered with so many mussels and barnacles that it sank to the bottom.
This law is for the dogs!
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a new ordinance calling for professional dogwalkers handing four or more pooches at once to be licensed.
Beginning next Jan. 1 (2013), dogwalking pros will also be required to complete training in park etiquette for dogs and canine first aid.
The real reason for her weight loss..
An Englishwoman, who shed 84 pounds after getting gastric-bypass surgery was shocked to find out the real reason for her weight loss.
Karren Knight started to exercise after her surgery, and it turned out her stomach band broke soon after the operation, so she did it all on her own.
“I thought surgery was an easy way to lose weight,” she said.
“But . . . all it took was a bit of determination.”
With friends like this guy, you don’t need enemies — but you might need insurance.
A Florida man has been charged with grand theft after he was asked to house- sit — then allegedly pawned $10,000 worth of his pal’s possessions.
From The New York Post.
January 9, 2012
Talk about a lucky penny. It was actually worth $1 million.
That was the final bid by an unknown buyer for the one-cent copper coin minted in 1793, the first year the United States produced its own coins. Its sale was one of the biggest deals at the coin show and annual convention of the Florida United Numismatics at the Orange County Convention Center.
The 1793 penny fetched a high price because it is rare and was in outstanding shape, showing no wear on its lettering, its Lady Liberty face or the wreath on its back.
This car has a mind of its own.
The vehicle — whose owner forgot to engage the parking brake in Stirling, Australia — rolled through a parking lot, across a road and down a driveway where it slid into a garage.
The owner reported the vehicle stolen. It was found 17 days later when the garage owner returned from a trip and found it.
“Put down that lollipop and come out with your hands up!’’
The library in Charlton, Mass., sent cops to retrieve two overdue books from a 5-year-old girl.
The officers did not throw the book at the little girl.
But her mother said the frightened child asked if they were going to arrest her and said, “I was scared.’’
Jan. 4 birthday runs in the family in Ohio
Jan. 4 birthdays have been running in one Ohio family for four generations.
Richard Stiff of the Toledo area turned 65 on Wednesday. The day is also the 34th birthday of his daughter, Julia Gonyer, and it’s the first birthday of Gonyer’s daughter, Kourtney.
The string began with Stiff’s late father, Marshall Stiff, who was born on Jan. 4, 1924.
All four family members arrived on Jan. 4 through unscheduled, natural births.
From The Boston Herald, The New York Post and The San Jose Mercury News.
January 2, 2012
In England, pig manure deters teenagers from drinking in the woods
The Middlesbrough Council came up with the cheap but effective method of combating anti-social behavior. It said residents had complained about young people drinking in the area. A council spokesman said: ”Following complaints, an inspection of the area revealed it was being used to drink alcohol and take drugs.” So Council staff thinned out the trees so the area was more visible from paths, then spread a thick layer of pig manure to deter the teens.
Since the muck-spreading, the area has been crime-free.
Do you have change for a million-dollar bill?
A North Carolina man is accused trying to use a fake $1 million bill to pay for his purchases at a Walmart. Michael Anthony Fuller, walked into the Walmart in Lexington, on Nov. 17. He shopped for a while, picking up a vacuum cleaner, a microwave oven and other merchandise, totaling $476, an arrest warrant says. When he got to the register, Fuller gave the cashier the phony bill, saying that it was real. Store staff called police.
Fuller was later charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretense and uttering a forged instrument, both felonies, court records show. A warrant says of the fake million-dollar bill: “There is no such thing.”
The largest bill in circulation is a $100 bill. In 1969, federal officials discontinued the use of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills because of lack of public use. The largest note ever printed was the $100,000 bill, which featured President Woodrow Wilson. The bills, which were not available to the public, were printed from Dec. 18, 1934, through Jan. 9, 1935, and were used for transactions between Federal Reserve banks.
The Chicken Hotel
A British man opened a hotel for chickens. The avian inn, called the Chicken Hotel, is the brainchild of David Roberts, 31, who said that so many people keep chickens as pets these days that they need somewhere to board them when they travel.
Among the amenities: pens that are guaranteed fox-proof.
From The Winston-Salem Journal and The NY Post.
December 19, 2011
A California teen won’t ever again doubt Santa’s chimney-maneuvering skills.
An 18 year-old in Stockton, CA, got stuck in the chimney when he tried to sneak into his house after he broke a curfew. He was trapped for about 90 minutes until emergency crews arrived and saw his feet poking out of the fireplace. They used a firetruck ladder and ropes to pull him up.
Apparently, only his pride was hurt. Scare me, will ya! KA-BLAM! OUCH!
… A man hunting in Monroe, Ore., was startled when a squirrel suddenly ran up his leg. He immediately fired at the animal with his .22-caliber rifle. But he missed and hit his own foot. The squirrel escaped.
An Australian veterinarian holds obedience classes for cats – but says they learn to sit and fetch only if the lessons are one-to-one.
“If you get more than one cat in a room, the claws come out,’’ says Dr. Nicole Hoskin. She said she’s been able to teach hand commands to Buzz, a 10-week-old kitten with hearing problems.
Raise your right paw and swear your testimony will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Four dogs have taken the stand in a Portland, Ore., courthouse in the trial of two people accused of neglecting them. Merlin, Patches, Coco and Raven were subpoenaed by the defense lawyer, who thought jurors looking at them would be convinced they’d been well treated. One of the witnesses slobbered on the rug, but was not held in contempt. The trial was set to resume with human witnesses.
From The Boston Herald and The New York Post.
December 12, 2011
World’s Oldest dog dies at 26
Yumiko Shinohara with Pusuke
Pusuke, the world’s oldest dog at 26 years and eight months, has died in Japan after falling ill and refusing to eat or go on his morning walk.
Pusuke was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living dog last December. The fluffy tan Shiba mix was recognized as the world’s oldest living dog by Guinness World Records last year.
Owner Yumiko Shinohara, of Sakura, a city just outside Tokyo, said she ‘would just like to thank him for staying alive so long.’
The oldest dog of all time is officially Australian cattle dog Bluey, who managed 29 years and five months before dying in 1939.
Give you my money? I don’t think so, punk!
Two masked men confronted a couple walking through a Colorado Springs, Colorado neighborhood at 10 p.m., announced they were robbing them and ordered them to the ground. Instead, the husband — who, it turns out, is an American soldier — pulled out his gun and fired at them as they ran away as fast as they could.
Michigan and Wisconsin have taken the gloves off
Rival boosters of the two states are fighting a border war over which looks more like a mitten. “Only one state has the mitten mojo,’’ said Alex Beaton, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who inspired a group of her friends to tweet the same message. Tom Lyons, of Neenah, Wis., tried to make peace: “Wisconsin is the left mitten, Michigan is the right mitten,’’ he said. “One mitten doesn’t cut it when it comes to Midwest winters.’’
Next time you want to insult someone, don’t call him a rat.
Rats show compassion for fellow rodents, a University of Chicago study has found. Researchers put two rats in shared compartments, where one could roam free and the other was trapped in a tiny cage. The free rat soon learned how to open the cage and spring his companion.
South Australia tourism
Workers at the agency that promotes tourism to South Australia came up with what they thought was a great idea — sending newspapers and broadcast stations goldfish in bowls emblazoned with the words, “Be the big fish in a small pond.’’ But by the time the fish were delivered, most of them were dead. “This is about the dumbest p.r. stunt that I have seen in many years, said Aussie publicity guru Chris Rann.
But it got a lot of press.
From The Boston Herald, The New York Post and London’s Metro.
December 5, 2011
Man returns cash stolen from Sears in the 1940s
The manager of the Sears store in downtown Seattle says an elderly man has repaid – with interest – cash the man says he stole in the late 1940s.
KING-TV reports that the man hand-delivered an envelope Monday (11/28) addressed to “Sears manager.” Inside were a note and a $100 bill.
The note said the man stole $20 to $30 from a cash register decades ago and wanted to pay back $100.
Manager Gary Lorentson says he thinks the man’s conscience “has been bothering him for the past 60 years.”
Store security cameras recorded the man, but Sears officials said they don’t know who he is and they won’t release the video.
The store plans to put the money toward helping needy families in the holiday season.
Ohio homeowner captures and hogties burglar
An Athens, Ohio homeowner said on Thursday (12/1) that he exercised his right to protect his property when he chased down and subdued the man who robbed his home twice.
What began as a robbery call took an unusual twist by the time Athens County Sheriff’s deputies arrived to investigate, 10TV’s Jessa Goddard reporter.
Homeowner William Stanley said that a thief stole video gaming systems from his home earlier that day. When he arrived home that evening to find the man in his home again, he had had enough.
“He recognized him, chased him up into the woods, couldn’t find him there,” Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly said. “I think he knew where he lives, so he went to the residence and subdued him, hogtied him, put him in the back of his car and delivered him to deputies.”
Sheriff Kelly said that homeowners have the right to protect their property and themselves, but he cautioned others against taking the law into their own hands.
“Under the castle doctrine, you have a right to protect your property and your life,” Kelly said. “That’s what this man felt like he did so we’re not going to press any charges against him.”
The robber will not be identified until he is indicted by a grand jury on a felony burglary charge.
“There’s never been an animal that I haven’t caught, but this one is almost supernatural,” Rick George, the city’s animal control officer, said Thursday. “He’s definitely an escape artist.”
Last month, volunteers erected a steel fence around his hideout — a wooded lot in southeast Milford — but Waldo rammed it and jarred the pins that joined the panels loose.
Like many fugitives, Waldo has surrounded himself with accomplices.
“He’s been traveling with a herd of deer, and they like to hang out and graze together,” George said. “We know the location where they are, but it is private property, and the owner doesn’t want any publicity.”
“This steer is a Black Angus, a breed that is not known for liking people,” George said. “We’re lining up a date in the next few weeks when we can gather a team of about 20 volunteers, including large-animal veterinarians and representatives from the state (Department of Agriculture). It’s not going to be an easy operation.”
Among the options being considered are tranquilizing the animal — which has grown considerably over the summer — and carrying or dragging it from his hideout. That operation will take several men, George said. A bovine version of a Have-A-Heart trap may be employed, baited with hay or other tasty treats. A tow truck may be used to help hoist the heifer into a holding pen.
George said Thursday he has already located an animal sanctuary upstate that will let Waldo live out his days, rolling in clover.
“It’s a big farm and the owner likes to see his animals roam,” the Milford animal control director said. He would not identify the facility.
The farm that it escaped from does not want Waldo back, George said. It is possible that once the animal is captured, the city could seek to collect its costs from the owner, he said.
Flying squirrel invades New Jersey emergency room
Image of a Northern Flying Squirrel.
Firefighters were needed stat after a flying squirrel went nuts in a New Jersey hospital’s emergency room.
The squirrel kept launching itself from an 8-foot-high wall-mounted lamp into a glass wall after becoming trapped in a trauma room at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway Tuesday night.
Fire Department spokesman Capt. Ted Padavano told The Star-Ledger of Newark it would climb up on a light and would jump off and glide.
A pair of firefighters threw a blanket over the squirrel and released it into a wooded area outside the hospital.
Padavano believes there may be a nest in the building because it’s the second time in two weeks that a flying squirrel got in the ER.
from the Boston Herald, Ohio’s 10TV.com, and the St. Petersburg Times and the Connecticut Post
November 28, 2011
Fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael shows off the 881-pound tuna caught on his trawler out of New Bedford, Mass.
Feds confiscate fishermen’s 881-lb. tuna
New Bedford, MA, fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael was elated recently when one of his bottom trawlers snared an 881-pound tuna.
The Standard-Times reports the fish was likely inadvertently snagged as Rafael’s crew was setting its net. A fish that big is hugely valuable — a 754pound tuna sold for nearly $396,000 this year.
Rafael drove to Provincetown to meet his crew, but found federal fishery enforcement agents waiting to seize the fish.
Rafael had tuna permits, but was told catching a tuna with a net is illegal. The fish will be sold overseas. Rafael will likely get a written warning, and no share of the proceeds if regulators find a violation.
A frustrated Rafael will likely give up his tuna permits, saying they’re apparently worthless.
California officials probe boxing kangaroo complaint
California wildlife officials are investigating a complaint that a circus traveling through the state is illegally staging an act involving a boxing kangaroo.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that Fish and Game wardens were sent this week to Bakersfield, where the Piccadilly Circus was scheduled to perform two shows. The results of that inquiry were not immediately released.
The agency denied the circus a permit to bring kangaroos into the state. Two inspections in Northern California this month did not find any kangaroos.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals complained that a trainer forces a kangaroo named Rocky to box by agitating the animal.
Piccadilly Circus will visit 14 cities in California in November and December, according to its website. The site does not mention a boxing kangaroo.
Officer, it just swooped right down in front of me
A man drove past an accident scene in Palestine, Texas, and crashed into a helicopter waiting to ferry the injured from the scene. The cops arrested the guy for drunken driving when he asked, “Why was the helicopter flying so low?”
Why did the turkey cross the road?
To give out traffic tickets.
A cop in Las Vegas, dressed as a big turkey, handed out 64 citations to drivers who did not yield to the big bird.
It’s part of the Las Vegas PD’s pedestrian-awareness campaign.
Happily, the meter wasn’t running
Three young British men set a new Guinness record for world’s longest taxi ride.
Driving a 19-year-old black London taxi, they covered 32,000 miles, three continents, and 41 countries to reach Australia.
A man was elected to a Derby, Conn., board that monitors the town’s finances — thanks to a ballot typographical error.
James J. Butler was the top vote getter.
But his dad, James R. Butller, was the candidate.
The younger Butler would not say whether he wants the job.
With bin Laden taken care of, the folks at Homeland Security must have a lot of time on their hands.
To celebrate Thanksgiving, they’ve issued a warning about a new threat to America — turkey fryers.
“Use turkey fryers outdoors at a safe distance from buildings,” the DHS [Department of Homeland Security] tweeted.
“Never use turkey fryers in a garage or on a wooden deck.”
Three shiftless carjackers in Vallejo, Calif., were foiled because the car they targeted had a standard transmission.
The three forced the driver out and grabbed the keys, but fled after realizing none of them knew how to work a stick shift.
From the San Jose Mercury-News, Boston Herald and New York Post.
November 14, 2011
Utah mayor used alias to double as news reporter
SALT LAKE CITY – The mayor of Utah’s second-largest city is acknowledging he used a fake name to write freelance stories for Utah news outlets because he says the municipality needed more “good news.”
West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder quoted himself in some of the stories he wrote for the Deseret News, KSL-TV’s website and a community weekly.
Winder tells The Associated Press his career as a news reporter using the name Richard Burwash lasted several months until he decided to come clean this week. He says getting stories published was as easy as setting up a Gmail account and Facebook page under the alias.
Winder says he wanted to offer balance to what he saw as bad news coverage of his city. He complains that the media devotes too much time to covering crime.
North Carolina town with no candidates counts write-in votes
TAR HEEL, N.C. — One North Carolina town won’t let a lack of candidates stand in the way of democracy.
Voters in the Bladen County town of Tar Heel cast their ballots this week. All the election’s votes were write-in votes because no one registered to run for office.
The rural town of about 117 residents has four part-time elected positions. Bladen County Board of Elections officials say there were clear winners in all the races, with about 10 names being written in by voters.
Officials now have to make sure that the top vote-getters live inside town limits and are willing to accept the jobs.
Boy born at 11:11 on 11-11-11 to vet on Vets Day
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. – Jacob Anthony Saydeh (say-DAH’) won’t have any trouble remembering precisely when he was born.
Virtua Memorial hospital in Mount Holly, N.J., says Jacob entered the world at 11:11 a.m. on Friday , 11-11-11.
And to make the Veterans Day birth even more remarkable, the boy’s mother is an Air Force veteran and his father currently services in the Air Force.
It’s the second child for Staff Sgt. Christopher Saydeh and his wife, Danielle. They live at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, where he is a member of Air Force security forces. They are a third-generation military family.
Jacob weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces.
Maui bull freed after giant tire stuck on his head
HONOLULU – The 800-pound rode bull in Hawaii, named Skywalker, couldn’t eat or drink after he got his head lodged in the truck tire that someone dumped at the Triple L Ranch in Maui, ranch owner Paige De Ponte said.
“He was uncomfortable and it took all day to get him out,” she said Wednesday.
No one could get near the cranky bull Tuesday until Skywalker became exhausted enough for ranch worker Kawika Manoa to use a piece of wood to pry off the tire, which weighs more than 50 pounds. Skywalker didn’t put up a fight and then went straight for the water trough after being released from the rubber ring, De Ponte said.
She didn’t know how the tire ended up around Skywalker’s neck, but she said she hopes his plight will raise awareness about using the rural Kanaio area, in the upcountry region of the island, as a dumping ground.
(from philly.com)