Lead Stories
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A pamphlet for parents on coping with marijuana use by their kids, written by a Utah criminology professor and recommended by U.S. senator Orrin Hatch, identifies “excessive preoccupation with social issues, race relations, environmental issues, etc” as a warning sign of drug use. Also mentioned are more obvious signs like staying out all night, needing more money, and a sudden interest “in Ras Tafari religion,” according to an October report in the Washington Post.
Magic Animals
In October medical tests showed that Khyl Hardy, six, had been bitten by a poisonous taipan snake. He and his mother say it happened during an Ansett Airlines flight from Melbourne, Australia, to Perth when Khyl reached under his seat to retrieve a lollipop he’d dropped and felt a sting. The snake was not found. Also in October passengers and crew on an Air Canada flight to England spent 20 minutes trying to catch a bat that had been brought aboard in a passenger’s carry-on bag.
A going-away party for retiring U.S. postmaster general Marvin Runyon in May, budgeted at $82,500 actually cost $120,000, according to a Freedom of Information Act request. Included in the bill were a video of Runyon’s career and travel expenses for out-of-town guests. Asked about the event by NBC News, Runyon called the cost “unfortunate” but said it was a “great party.”
A 28-year-old woman in Winnipeg was shot to death in August, and in July a 36-year-old man was shot and injured near Williamsburg, Kentucky, both after arguments over animals. The Winnipeg woman’s cat had defecated one time too many in a neighbor’s sandbox, and the Kentucky victim had just purchased a fighting chicken from a man when the seller’s alleged partner showed up with a gun saying that the chicken shouldn’t have been sold without his permission.
