The Wheels on the Plane Go Round and Round?
Folks on a Colgan Airlines plane that landed in Buffalo are lucky to be alive after a wheel fell off while they were landing at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The wheel came off a Q400 Bombardier, the exact same type of plane that crashed three months ago killing 49 passengers and crewmembers, also while approaching the airport in Buffalo. That crash also killed one person on the ground. Video tape of the landing shows the wheel coming off the plane as it touched down. The plane was towed to the gate and all 73 passengers got off safely. An FAA spokesman told the Sun that a hydraulic line leading to a main gear was severed and a part of a hub assembly of the landing gear was missing. (myway.com)
Stun Your Son or Daughter At Work Day!
In Tallahassee, Florida, forty children attending "take your sons and daughters to work" days at three Florida prisons were shocked with stun guns and now five state prison workers are out of a job. Three of the officers were fired and two resigned when the incidents came to light this month. Sixteen other officers are being disciplined in connection with the incidents. In one instance, groups of children were asked to stand in a circle and hold hands. One of the children was hit with the stun gun, and the electric current passed through the other children. None of the children were seriously hurt. Fourteen children were directly shocked with the stun guns. It was also discovered that prison personal had demonstrated the use of tear gas on some visiting children. Thank goodness they didn't show them how the shower rooms work! (AHN News)
The World's Most Expensive Cell Phone Bill
You might say 38-year-old Derrick Ross just got the world's most expensive cell phone bill. Ross is an inmate at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Coffield prison and a search of this cell turned up a cell phone. That's a big no-no in jail -- so big that he was just sentenced to an additional 60 YEARS for having the phone! So why such a stiff sentence? Well Ross is a three-time burglary offender, already serving time for felony convictions and during his trial the current trial, the jury found him as a "habitual offender." For the possession of a prohibited item in a Texas correctional facility, a felon can be sentenced for anywhere between 25 to 99 years! Prosecutors hope Ross' sentence will send a strong message to other Texas inmates. (AHN News)
Off With Their Heads!
It looks like the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new motto is "Off With Their Heads!" Ant heads that is. They're helping states introduce a specific fly species to control the population of biting and destructive fire ants. According to the Texas A&M University's Scott Ludwig, a pest management specialist, the new type of phorid fly is a tiny parasite preying solely on red imported fire ants. The flies secretly lays eggs on unsuspecting fire ants and the parasite grows in the body of the ants and moves to the brain, eating it away until the head falls off. The hope is this will stop the $1.2 billion in agriculture losses due to fire ants every year. (AHN News)
Very Strange Weapon of Choice
In Winston Salem, North Carolina, 17-year-old John Szwalla allegedly tried to rob an internet cafe with a banana-- then ate the "weapon" before he was arrested. Police say Szwalla entered the shop with the banana concealed under his T-shirt and demanded money. The shop's owner, Bobby Ray Mabe and some customers overcame the boy and called for help. But the teenager ate his banana before police arrived. Officers joked they may charge him with destroying evidence. Mabe didn't find anything funny about the incident though and said, "If he had had a gun he would've shot me!" Banana or not, Szwalla was charged with attempted armed robbery. (Ananova)
4,000 Miles For a New Cat
Rose and Chris Ramussen live in London but traveled 4,000 miles, all the way to Harrison, Michigan, to adopt a cat they found on Petfinder.com! They could have had him shipped to the London suburb where they live--or of coursed they could have adopted a cat IN LONDON-- but instead decided to make the journey to adopt Sparky the cat. Paperwork, a rabies vaccination, a six-month quarantine and other formalities followed before Sparky was cleared to depart for Britain. Dave Gendregske, the animal control director for the county, said, "A lot of people would ask, 'Why come from England?' When people meet Sparky, find he has a dynamic personality, they fall in love with him." Staff at the shelter said the black-and-white kitten had become something of a mascot since he was taken in last August. < I>(Ananova)
How Great Thou Art
At an art gallery in London, Mexican artist Raul Ortega Ayala's exhibit opened with the customary hors d'oeuvres for visitors. However, since Ayala's work specializes in the roles that food play in our lives, he served special hors d'oeuvres-- cheese made from human breast milk! He said he did it so people could explore their first encounter with food emphasizing its territoriality and boundaries. He also said his next piece would go the other way, featuring 10 different menus showing what "presidents, public figures, mass murderers and cave men" ate just before dying. (London Express)