Plymouth Rock portico to be refurbished

Plymouth Rock portico
to be refurbished

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Tourists hoping for a look at legendary Plymouth Rock next spring will instead see nothing but a reinforced plywood box.

The famous symbol of America’s founding is going to be covered from March to May as state park officials begin a $680,000 overhaul of a granite and steel portico built over the rock’s remains.

The idea is to protect the rock from any falling steel, stone or mortar.

The rock is located at the spot where it’s believed the Pilgrims first walked ashore from the Mayflower in 1620.

Officials want to protect it because it’s taken a bit of a beating over the years.

It cracked in half when townspeople working a team of oxen tried to move it to the village center in 1774.

And early tourists chipped away at the rock, taking pieces all over the country.

Creation Museum plans
expansion of facilities

PETERSBURG, Ky. — Northern Kentucky’s Creation Museum is evolving into a larger facility.

The museum will add 663 parking spaces, outdoor canopies and a maintenance building and will move its main entrance as part of a $500,000 upgrade, according to a report in The Kentucky Enquirer.

The controversial museum, which uses literal interpretations of the Bible to tell the earth’s history, welcomed its 250,000th visitor five months after its opening on Memorial Day. The museum had expected to get 250,000 visitors its entire first year.

The larger-than-expected crowds left the facility with an overflowing parking lot, forcing staff to park miles away.

The Boone County Planning Commission approved the plans by an 11-1 vote, the newspaper reported.

Naples expands ban
on smoking to outdoors

NAPLES, Italy — Naples has taken its smoking ban outdoors, forbidding lighting up in public parks and during demonstrations and cultural events if children or pregnant women are nearby.

Violators risk fines from $40-$370, according to a city ordinance that went into effect Nov. 17. Already, smoking in Naples — like the rest of Italy — is banned in restaurants, offices and other closed public places such as airports.

Naples decided to expand its ban outside because health officials recently reported that the death rate of victims from respiratory illness and lung cancer was “significantly” higher in Naples than the rest of the country, according to the ordinance.

32-foot-tall menorah
to be lit in New York City

NEW YORK — What organizers say is the world’s largest menorah will be lit every night during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, beginning Tuesday, at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, near Central Park.

The menorah, sponsored by the Lubavitch Youth Organization, stands 32 feet tall. The lighting of the gigantic candelabra will take place at 5:30 p.m. each day through Dec. 11, except for the Friday-Saturday Sabbath observance, when the lightings will take place at 3:40 p.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

If you’re elsewhere during the holiday and you’d like to take part in a Hanukkah celebration, check out www.chabad.org/hanukkahevents, which lists menorah-lightings in 486 cities in 27 countries. The holiday events, sponsored by Chabad-Lubavitch, a Jewish outreach organization, are open to the public.

Associated Press