Bottom of the News… Friday, February 1, 2008

Good morning my fellow Rotarians… Well, let me be the first to say happy February 1st to ya! Welcome to the month of LOVE… More on that later. So let’s jump right in to some bottom stories…

Cow falls 200 feet, lands on minivan's hood!

MANSON, IA -- A cow fell about 200 feet off a cliff on a Sunday afternoon and landed on the hood of a minivan passing by Rocky Point about one mile east of Manson.

Charles Everson Jr. and his wife Linda escaped injury. "It was just 'bam'-- you just saw something come down and hit the hood," said Mr. Everson. He and his wife were in the area from the Detroit area, to celebrate their one-year anniversary, he said. They were on Highway 150 headed back to their hotel after attending a church service.

Everson, 49, said he didn't actually see the animal until it hit -- and didn't realize what had happened until after the impact. "I'm like, 'I don't believe this. I don't believe this. I don't believe this,' “Everson said, adding he repeated the phrase "about 20 times."

According to Arnold Baker, Chelan County Fire Chief, the cow was a heifer estimated to weigh about 600 pounds and he was one year old.

“What is funny, but not really,” said Baker, “is that it was such a close call. Inches different and the couple in this car would have been killed.”

The fire chief found it interesting that the Eversons did not stop right away when the cow hit them, but drove about another mile after the collision before pulling over, and were then they taken to Lake Chelan Community Hospital as a precaution. The van… well, just imagine the force of a 600 pound cow hitting your car from 200 feel in the air. It was totaled.

Forget the fire department. And don't call NASA in Urbandale…

A rocket, and the flames that spit inside it, is supposed to be on the roof of Urbandale High School. Of course some of the neighbors did not know that when they started calling 911.

The "rocket" is a portable heater that protects paint and drywall from cold weather during a construction project. Workers for the contractor noticed the device's resemblance to a rocket, so they decided to take the joke one step further with space-age fins and NASA logos. The result was a goof on the roof.

"It's a Saturn VII, can't you read?" said John Lees, the super visor for maintenance and construction. Unfortunately, many of the neighbors did not know that Lees was joking when he suggested that federal space officials should be called to see if they had lost something important.

The explanation is, well, "not rocket science," John Lees. The flames inside the heater put off an orange glow that faces the houses to the north of the school. That sparked the 911 call, fire officials said.

Neighbors can rest assured, Lees said, because the heater has an automatic shutoff. There's no danger of a fire -- or a visit from NASA officials.

Midgets in suitcases rifling bus travelers' bags

From London's Telegraph comes this weird crime story. Criminal gangs are using midgets in a ruse to steal from the luggage holds of buses on long-distance trips by hiding them inside suitcases, according to police.

The bizarre crime is on the rise in Sweden and officers say thieves have gotten away with thousands of pounds in cash, jewelry and other valuables in recent months.
Gangs are said to sneak the midgets into the luggage hold, hidden inside baggage. Then, once the journey has begun, the stowaways are free to rifle through the bags of other passengers without fear of being apprehended.

Before the bus arrives at its destination the midgets take their loot back into their suitcase, zip themselves inside and wait to be collected by their partners in crime.

And that is the latest from the strange, the weird and the wacky bottom of the news on this Friday February 1, 2008.
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