ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Elephants trample Cleveland zoo attendance records

CLEVELAND

Officials at the zoo in Cleveland say it’s setting new attendance records thanks in part to some popular pachyderms.

The Plain Dealer newspaper reports the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has seen some big days since the new African Elephant Crossing opened May 5.

The zoo had its best Mother’s Day ever, Tuesday was the busiest Tuesday this year, and this week also has seen the biggest Monday in the zoo’s history. Nearly 25,000 people visited Monday, which the zoo says was due not only to the elephants but also to good weather, kids home from school, and free admission Mondays for residents of Cleveland and the surrounding county.

The new elephant exhibit allows the animals to roam in more than four times the space of their old building.

Ohio golf course replaces trees killed by beetle

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio

Golfers in northwest Ohio have helped lead an effort to restore trees on a course that were wiped out by a beetle.

Forrest Creason Golf Course at Bowling Green State University once had 167 ash trees shading its fairways. But The Blade of Toledo reports they all died and had to be removed because of the emerald ash borer, an invasive bug that destroys ash trees and has been found throughout Ohio.

Forrest Creason regular Kent Reichert tells the newspaper he didn’t like seeing the course so bare, so he donated some trees last year and suggested that others do the same.

Ore. man who quit college in 1932 graduates at 99

BEND, Ore.

An Oregon man who dropped out of college just short of graduation in 1932 has earned his degree at age 99.

KTVZ-TV in Bend reports that Leo Plass, of Redmond, received his diploma a few days ago from Eastern Oregon University in La Grande.

Plass says he was less than one semester away from graduating from what was then called Eastern Oregon Normal School and starting a career as a teacher.

But Plass says it was the Depression, and a teaching salary of $80 a month wouldn’t cut it. So when a friend offered him a spot in a logging outfit at $150 a month, Plass says he couldn’t pass it up.

Swing ride opens at Cedar Point

SANDUSKY, Ohio

Cedar Point’s new thrill ride has made its long-awaited debut, a month after the northern Ohio amusement park opened for the season.

Bad weather hampered construction and testing of the towering WindSeeker swing ride. The Sandusky Register reports the first riders got their chance to soar 300 feet above the ground Tuesday morning.

Associated Press