ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Gas in class? That’s no problem to creative W.Va. teacher

CHARLESTON, W.Va.

What’s a ninth-grade English teacher to do when teenage boys are passing gas and teenage girls are complaining? Turn it into a teachable moment, of course.

Melissa Huff Salvatore seized on the fascination her Paw Paw High School students had with bodily functions and made it a lesson. For her success, she’s won a $2,000 award from the state Department of Education.

In all, 13 teachers from nine schools claimed $20,000 in the Thinkfinity video contest funded by the Verizon Foundation.

When the gas-passing in Salvatore’s class wouldn’t stop, she challenged students to a debate.

The disruptive boys eagerly researched the human digestive system, even calling gastroenterologists for advice.

And they won.

State Superintendent of Schools Jorea Marple says the contest shows the creativity at work in many West Virginia classrooms.

Pa. couple says they captured purple squirrel and freed it

JERSEY SHORE, Pa.

A central Pennsylvania couple say they’ve captured a purple squirrel in their backyard.

Jersey Shore resident Percy Emert says he and his wife, Connie, caught the purple squirrel last Sunday in a trap with peanuts. He says even the insides of its ears were purple.

Photos of the squirrel ended up online.

The couple say they released the squirrel Tuesday. They say a state game warden later took samples of purple fur left in its cage and trimmed from its tail.

A Pittsburgh Zoo curator who saw a photo of the squirrel on his cellphone says he thinks it looks like a gray squirrel tinged in purple. He joked Thursday it may have fallen into a portable toilet that had blue coloration.

Accuweather.com first reported the discovery.

NYC sewage plant to offer Valentine’s Day tours

NEW YORK

It may not smell like a rose but a New York City sewage plant is offering tours for lovers on Valentine’s Day.

The tour host and superintendent of the Newtown Creek Wastewater treatment plant in Brooklyn tells the Daily News that it’ll be a unique date, and one that special someone will never forget.

Jim Pynn says the highlight of the tour will be the plant’s giant egg-shaped digesters, which break down the noxious waste into harmless sludge and gas.

Pynn says each Valentine’s Day visitor will get a Hershey kiss — and at least something to talk about.

Associated Press