oddly enough

oddly enough

Pa. town to ring in New Year with giant mushroom

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa.

A town near Philadelphia that’s famous for fungus will ring in 2014 with a giant mushroom.

The 700-pound, stainless-steel toadstool will be lowered from a crane Dec. 31 as residents of Kennett Square count down to the New Year.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the sculpture will be more than 7 feet wide and 8 feet tall.

Kennett Square calls itself the mushroom capital of the world because area farms account for about half of U.S. mushroom production.

The mushroom joins a slew of quirky New Year’s Eve traditions in Pennsylvania.

In Bethlehem, residents celebrate Jan. 1 by lowering an 85-pound statue of a Marshmallow Peep, since the treats are made locally.

In Easton, officials drop a 10-foot-tall lighted crayon because the city is home to Crayola Inc.

Oops: Pro-Boeing ad in Seattle uses Airbus plane

SEATTLE

There was one thing wrong in a full-page ad in The Seattle Times urging state lawmakers to pass a transportation package aimed at persuading Boeing to build the new 777X in Washington state.

The headline Wednesday read “The Future of Washington,” but the photo was of an Airbus jetliner, not a Boeing.

The ad was placed by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, which is part of the Aerospace Partnership of business, labor and economic development groups.

A chamber spokeswoman, Terri Hiroshima, told The Seattle Times, “It’s an embarrassing, cringe-worthy error.”

Thief scoops up kitty litter at Salisbury, Mass., shelter

SALISBURY, Mass.

Kittens doing the potty dance at a Salisbury shelter had good reason.

Officials at the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society say someone stole the shelter’s entire supply of kitty litter over the weekend.

Liz Pease, director of operations, says five or six 40-pound bags of wood pellets, which are used as kitty litter, stored in the shelter’s unlocked shed behind the main building were taken. The bags cost about $6 each.

Pease tells The Daily News of Newburyport that she suspects someone stole the wood pellets to heat their home. The wood pellets control odor better than traditional kitty litter.

The roughly 60 cats in the no-kill shelter avoided accidents because volunteers started dropping off bags of kitty litter.

Pease says the shed will be locked from now on.

Associated Press