oddly enough

oddly enough

Altoona, Pa., sells naming rights for filmmaker

ALTOONA, Pa.

Later this month, there still will be a city with roughly 31,000 residents in the Allegheny Mountains east of Pittsburgh. What there won’t be is a city named Altoona.

That’s because the city has sold its name to make some money — and to help independent filmmaker Morgan Spurlock make a point.

City Council on Wednesday approved a deal to change Altoona’s name to “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” for 60 days. Spurlock will pay the city an unspecified amount that will benefit its police department.

The film skewers the proliferation of advertising in American life. POM Wonderful is a juice company that paid to be the movie’s title sponsor.

The film will screen in Altoona on April 27, the day the name change takes effect.

Pa. police send pet pig to farm; man wants it back

FOLSOM, Pa

A potbellied pet has been put out to pasture, much to the chagrin of its suburban Philadelphia owner.

Brian Maguire tells the Philadelphia Daily News he wants police to return the Vietnamese micro potbellied pig they captured when the animal escaped from his suburban yard.

But police in Ridley Township say they’ve sent his 10-week-old pet, Steve, to a farm because township residents can’t keep farm animals.

Maguire, a 24-year-old truck mechanic, says his domesticated pet can’t forage for food.

He and his girlfriend challenge the police reading of the township pet rule. The law bans “farm animals other than customary pets.” Maguire bought the pig for $424 at a local pet shop.

Township Commissioner Michael McCrea says he’s not commenting on the case.

Drugstore thief comes after pills, gets beans

PASCAGOULA, Miss.

A pharmacist in southeastern Mississippi says some drugstore burglar got a surprise when they broke into his business to steal the pain medication Lortab — the pills had been replaced with beans.

Pharmacist Mac Clark works at Fred’s Drug Store in Pascagoula and told WLOX TV the store has been broken into several times in the past six months, and each time the burglars got Lortab.

He decided he needed a decoy.

He put kidney beans in a large Lortab bottle. Around 6 a.m. Wednesday, the burglars came back.

The only thing stolen was the Lortab bottle filled with beans.

Investigators believe the burglar cut him or herself during the break-in because they found a trail of blood leading away from the building.

Associated Press