oddly enough

oddly enough

Police: Pa. panhandler claimed to be state trooper

LATROBE, Pa.

Police say an unruly, drunken panhandler charged with harassing the customers of a western Pennsylvania business falsely claimed to be a state trooper, too — but was found out when he claimed to work at a nonexistent barracks.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for 51-year-old Kevin Cunningham of Latrobe, whose listed phone number was disconnected Thursday.

Police in Latrobe, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, say a store owner called Westmoreland County 911 to complain about the man harassing his customers last Friday afternoon.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the store owner was concerned because Cunningham purportedly threatenedd to hit him and claimed to be a trooper. The dispatcher asked the store owner where Cunningham claimed to be stationed and he said Delmont — a town several miles away with no barracks.

Colorado university suspends silent professor

BOULDER, Colo.

A Colorado university has suspended a religious-studies professor whose silent protest against racial bias on campus led to complaints that he refused to speak during classes.

Naropa University professor Don Matthews says he launched the protest on the Boulder campus during his classes last week. He says he walked around with a piece of paper explaining his protest and later answered questions during the last 10 or 15 minutes of his classes to make sure students understood their assignments.

According to the Boulder Daily Camera, Naropa officials say the silent protest was unnecessary, and they acknowledged that the university has work to do on issues of diversity. School officials say they want to resolve the issues and they want Matthews to resume teaching next year.

Swimmer nabs monster lobster off coast of California

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.

Joseph Ali says onlookers thought he was drunk when he dived into the nighttime waters around a Southern California pier. But he came away with a monster of a lobster and the catch of a lifetime.

Ali tells the Orange County Register he was closing his father’s business, Zack’s Pier Plaza in Huntington Beach on Monday when he saw the ocean was calm and decided to dive for dinner. He was down about 15 feet going after a smaller lobster when he saw the giant. He says it was too big to grab properly but it latched onto him and he wrestled it to shore.

It weighed nearly 18 pounds — even a 5-pounder is considered trophy-sized — and likely was at least 30 years old.

Associated Press