January 26, 2012

Utah School Passes On ‘Cougars’ As Mascot

Salt Lake City (AP) A Utah school district has decided against using “Cougars” as a mascot for a new high school in part because of the negative connotation of the word in popular culture.

Canyons School District Superintendent David S. Doty says the selection of “Chargers” as mascot was driven by the desire for originality, despite a poll of some future students that showed 26 percent in favor of using the cougar.

At least three Utah schools, including Brigham Young University, use cougar as a mascot.

Doty says public comments reflect a desire to be different, but he also notes that some see the word cougar as carrying a “negative double entendre.”

The term cougar in popular culture can refer to women in their 40s who have sex with younger men.

Alaska Woman, 85, Uses Shovel To Fend Off Moose

Anchorage, Alaska (AP) An 85-year-old Alaska woman used a grain shovel to fend off an agitated moose that was stomping her husband.

George Murphy says his wife saved his life. The Anchorage Daily News says the 82-year-old pilot, who flew for three decades for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was hiking with his golden retrievers near the Willow airport Friday. He saw the moose and dove in the snow, but the moose started stomping him.

His wife, Dorothea, who is 5 feet tall and weighs 97 pounds, grabbed a big shovel and hit the moose in the body and head.

She ran for help, and Murphy was rushed by medical helicopter to an Anchorage hospital. He was in good condition Monday with a gash to his head.

Kitty Tinkles Into Electric Outlet Causing...Smoke?

New Castle, PA (AP) One western Pennsylvania fire department learned that there’s not necessarily fire wherever there’s smoke.

New Castle’s assistant fire chief Jim Donston tells The Associated Press that firefighters were called when an electrical outlet on a floor was smoking, only to find that happened because the family’s cat urinated into the outlet.

The New Castle News first reported the incident Friday and Donston supplied more details to the AP.

The assistant chief says a Columbia Gas worker was at the house checking for a possible leak when he noticed the smoking outlet and called the fire department Wednesday about 7:30 p.m.

Donston says firefighters “found the receptacle wet from cat urine” and shut off the electrical supply to that circuit.

Woman Stole Card To Buy Soda For Can Deposit

Lynn, MA (AP) Authorities say a Massachusetts woman bought $64 worth of soda using a stolen welfare benefits card, then immediately fed the full cans into the supermarket’s automated redemption machine for the nickel deposit. Tina Cafarelli, of Lynn, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges including larceny, property destruction and receiving stolen property. She was ordered held on $250 bail. Police tell The Daily Item that the electronic benefits card Cafarelli used to buy the 18 12-packs of soda had another person’s name on it. The supermarket manager says the full cans caused extensive damage to the redemption machine. The 36-year-old Cafarelli couldn’t be reached for comment.

Myanmar Stops Snake Smuggling Attempt

Yangon, Myanmar (AP) Forestry officials in central Myanmar have seized nearly 10,000 snakes in 400 crates that were to be smuggled to China.

The weekly journal Modern reported Friday that 50 cobras were among the 9,176 snakes seized in Pyin Oo Lwin district near Mandalay on Jan. 12.

Wildlife smuggling is endemic in Asia, where exotic species are used for food and traditional medicine. The report did not say how many people were arrested but said those involved would be charged under the Protection of Wildlife and Conservation of Natural Areas law, which carries a five-year prison sentence.

It said the 7,000 non-poisonous snakes were released into a wildlife reserve, while the vipers and cobras were sent to the state pharmaceutical company for their venom.

Man Is Unaware Of 3 Inch Nail In Brain

Orland Park, IL (AP) A suburban Chicago man thought the errant nail that discharged from the gun he was working with had whizzed by his head. Instead, it was lodged in his brain. Family members say Dante Autullo spent more than a day with the 3¬Ω-inch nail in his head before having it removed Thursday.

The 32-year-old was tinkering in the garage of his Orland Park home Tuesday when then the nail gun went off.

He saw a small wound but couldn’t find the nail and didn’t think much of it. He went to work the next day but later went to the hospital with nausea and one monster of a headache.

That’s when an X-ray uncovered the nail.

Autullo is recovering after a four-hour surgery to have the nail removed.

Cool Cat Survives Trip In Refrigerated Truck

Edneyville, NC (AP) A lucky feline is warming up at an animal shelter in Edneyville after surviving a trip from Canada in the back of a refrigerated truck.

The Times-News of Hendersonville reports that the cat was discovered earlier this month when workers were unloading cargo from the truck at a warehouse in Mills River.

But the chilly trip didn’t end there. The cat escaped into the warehouse, where the temperature is kept at 38 degrees, before employees caught him after about a week.

The cat is now at the Blue Ridge Humane Society Animal Adoption and Rescue Center, where he’s being quarantined.

Workers plan to have him neutered and vaccinated and then put up for adoption.

Since his adventure ended, he’s been given the name Joe Cool.