News at a Glance

By Sarah Masker
Elm Staff Writer

1.) Dirty clothes? Well, too bad—Troy Shoenly’s laundromat in Pennsylvania might ban you if the clothes are too filthy. Want to clean up your muddy truck at his carwash? That’s not allowed either. Lately, natural gas workers have been bringing in their overly greasy clothes, dirtying the machines with oil that is nearly impossible to remove. Additionally, the trucks leave big piles of mud behind, which deter many of Shoenly’s longtime customers. Fed up with the grease and mud polluting his business, Shoenly became the bad guy when he was forced to post a sign reading, “Absolutely no muddy vehicles in any of our wash bays, no exceptions!” If the mud turns off customers, imagine what his cheery demeanor will accomplish. Msnbc.com

2.) Once upon a time, certain forms of art were considered sinful. Apparently the woman that attacked the Paul Gauguin painting “Two Tahitian Women,” screaming, “This is evil!” still embraces that mindset. The painting, which depicts two women as partially nude is a part of a special Gauguin exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. The woman, who attempted to pull the painting off the wall and pounded on its plastic covering, has been charged with destruction of property and attempted theft. Gallery spokeswoman Deborah Ziska says no damage to the 1899 painting was immediately noticed, but a more thorough examination has been scheduled. Msnbc.com

3.) When the “Check engine” light comes on, who actually goes out and checks the engine? When Joanie Ranahan of Braintree, MA, was having trouble with her car, she took it to the mechanic, who immediately discovered the source of the trouble: a family of squirrels had been nesting inside the engine. Ranahan said, “I went into the garage, and the hood’s up, and there’s like 10 people looking into my engine.” In addition to building her nest, the mother squirrel had also chewed through many wires. Although Ranahan was lucky her car didn’t burst into flames, she still has the misfortune of a $642 bill. Msnbc.com

4.) The best birthday parties were always the ones with bounce houses. For a boy and a girl in Tucson, AZ, their latest escapade involving inflatable fun became unforgettable when the wind lifted the house while they were in it, before depositing it on a road. The play house was blown across three lanes of traffic before landing on a median. The children suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries in what was the second such incident this year in the area. In February, a 10-year-old girl hurt her head after falling out of a wind-lifted moon bounce. According to the National Weather Service, a “dust devil” was the source of the incident. These columns of air can rotate up to 60 mph, and apparently they can lift bounce houses as well. Aolnews.com

5.) The town of Lost Springs, WY, has evidently experienced a population explosion thanks to the Census. In 2000, Leda Price was considered the only resident of the town, but now the Census Bureau has corrected its mistake, recording four town residents and quadrupling the population in the process. Since 2000, two residents died but a newcomer moved in. The state highway department promises that it will change the town’s population on signs. They might want to get on that before another major change occurs; it seems like the perfect setting for an “And Then There Were None” scenario. Aolnews.com

6.) Newspaper editor J. Wilson of Iowa is enjoying his exclusive diet of water and beer for Lent, which has so far been successful. Wilson says he got the idea for his “liquid bread” diet when he heard about German monks’ 300 year old practice of drinking just beer and water for Lent. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Wilson consumes a high-calorie home brew designed to suit his dietary needs. He says he might experience the occasional inadvertent buzz, but adds, “I haven’t been sloshed the last three weeks.” Aolnews.com

7.) According to Montana legislator Alan Hale, DUI laws are “destroying a way of life.” Disregarding the fact that drunk driving destroys life itself, he argues, “These DUI laws are not doing our small businesses in our state any good at all.” Hale, who owns a bar, says pubs are important gathering places in rural Montana and are only accessible by car. These “smaller communities connect people together.” Hale has objected to a proposed bill that would make DUI laws stricter for repeat offenders, but Mothers Against Drunk Driving National President Laura Dean-Mooney says, “He needs to do a little more fact checking before he makes statements like that and insults those who have lost loved ones to drunk driving.” He might want to look into designated drivers, too. Aolnews.com

8.) Animals are often an excellent cure for depression, but city officials in Broken Arrow, OK, worry that Christine Carr’s therapy pet could become a public safety risk. Irwin, her 25 pound great red kangaroo, ran into a fence as a baby, fracturing his neck and causing brain damage. Carr’s therapist has certified the animal as a therapy pet under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and due to his accident, he is not expected to grow over 50 pounds. Broken Arrow Mayor Mike Lester has his worries, though. “There’s just a myriad of things we need to consider,” but Joanna Cooper, owner of Broken Arrow Nursing Home, counters, “Why are people giving her problems when people have tigers and pit bulls?” Usatoday.com

9.) When Le Yati Min was born, her mother said, “I asked the nurses whether my kid was born complete with hands and legs. They replied that the baby has more than she needs.” Born with 12 fingers and 14 toes, Le, now 16 months old, might be the most “digitally enhanced” person in the world. Her family is applying for a Guinness World Record, trying to edge out a boy from India with 12 fingers and 13 toes. Polydactylism—being born with an extra finger or toe—is extremely rare, but it is even rarer for these extra digits to be functional, as Le’s are. Usatoday.com

10.) Cosmetic surgery and bullying are becoming more and more prevalent in America, yet who would ever have thought the two would be connected? Today, many young children are having cosmetic procedures done to stop bullies from victimizing them. All her life, seven-year-old Samantha Shaw has been teased about her protruding ears. She’s even been asked about them by adults, and her mother says the constant attention has really bothered her. In the past decade, the number of children and teens who get cosmetic surgery increased nearly 30 percent. Abcnews.com

April 8, 2011
Volume LXXXI Issue 21

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