oddly enough

oddly enough

$100 bet gets Calif. man stuck in child swing set

VALLEJO, Calif.

A 21-year-old Northern California man was left hanging at a playground swing set overnight after he got stuck in the diaperlike seat for nine hours.

Vallejo police say the man made a $100 bet with his friends that he could fit into a child’s swing at Blue Rock Springs Park on Friday night. With the help of liquid laundry detergent, he managed to slide his legs into the seat.

Authorities say that’s when he got stuck — and his friends took off.

A groundskeeper found the man screaming for help the next morning. Firefighters cut the chains off the swing and took him to the hospital, where a cast cutter was used to remove the seat.

The man’s name has not been released.

Mass. college students revolt at vegetarian rumor

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.

The rumor that Smith College was going entirely vegetarian and that it would buy only food from local growers started a ruckus on the school’s Massachusetts campus.

There were protests and counterprotests last week at the prestigious women’s college in Northampton, slogans pro and con written on walkways and personal criticism of the manager of dining services.

It turns out it was a hoax cooked up by two professors as part of their introductory class in logic.

Professor Jay Garfield tells The Boston Globe the prank was a way to liven up a dry topic.

He and professor Jim Henle have started false rumors in the past.

Smith President Carol Christ added to the exercise, saying Monday that Garfield and Henle had been fired. That, too, was a hoax.

W. Pa. authority attempts to gauge ‘stolen’ water

DAVIDSVILLE, Pa.

A southwestern Pennsylvania water authority plans to install meters on some longer rural water lines in an attempt to catch customers they believe are stealing water.

The Daily American of Somerset reported Tuesday that the Conemaugh Municipal Water Authority in Somerset Township can’t account for 32 percent of the water it provided last month. Officials don’t believe leaks can explain the loss.

Instead, they’re planning to pay $600 each to install extra meters where customers have private water lines of 100 feet or more.

Officials say farmers and other large landowners sometimes add extra taps to their outlying water lines to bypass the meters nearer their homes, enabling such customers to use water for free.

Officials say the meters should pay for themselves if they curb the thefts.

Associated Press