oddly enough

oddly enough

Family’s pumpkin stand in Idaho is out of its gourds

LEWISTON, Idaho

An Idaho family is out of its gourds thanks to publicity about a tax agency’s threatening to close their pumpkin business for lack of a state permit.

Kami Charais tells the Lewiston Tribune they made three times as much money as expected, bringing in $600 to pay for wrestling and dance lessons for their children, 6-year-old Jacob and 4-year-old Sami-Lou.

She figures they’ll pay $36 in sales tax to the state.

The kids sold the squash from their porch, splitting the profits with the grower.

Some people made donations, and others drove from as far away as Spokane, Wash., to grab a gourd.

A representative of the Idaho State Tax Commission has said the stop was meant to inform the family that they needed permits and to pay the state’s 6 percent sales tax.

Injuries cut short Ohio pumpkin smash-and-slide

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio

Safety concerns cut short an annual pumpkin smash-and-slide staged by students at an Ohio high school.

In a tradition going back to 1969, juniors and seniors from Chagrin Falls High School near Cleveland take pumpkins to the top of a hilly street, smash them on the pavement and use the mess to slide down on sleds or trash-can lids.

WEWS-TV reports that what’s known as the pumpkin roll began Thursday morning just after midnight but was brought to an early end by police about 45 minutes later. Officers said there were too many hillside collisions and minor injuries this year.

One student told the television station her leg got caught between three sleds.

Unmanned Spokane fire engine rolls into home

SPOKANE, Wash.

A parked Spokane Fire Department engine with nobody at the wheel rolled into a home where firefighters were making an aid call.

Fire Chief Bobby Williams says the truck had been parked about 100 yards from the home Wednesday night.

Shortly after medics walked inside, they heard the crash.

KXLY-TV reports the engine knocked down porch supports and punched a hole in the living-room wall.

No one was hurt.

Investigators are trying to figure out how the runaway truck made the trip down the street, over a curb and hit the home.

Associated Press