oddly enough

oddly enough

South Dakota cancels driving campaign over innuendo

PIERRE, S.D.

South Dakota officials have canceled a public-safety campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of jerking the steering wheel on icy roads, saying it’s too risque.

The Department of Public Safety has pulled the “Don’t Jerk and Drive” ads, which played on the double-meaning of the word “jerk.”

Highway Safety Director Lee Axdahl told the Argus Leader earlier this week that the double meaning was intentional, to grab people’s attention.

He says the message is that the department would prefer drivers keep their cars out of the ditch and their mind out of the gutter.

But his boss, Public Safety Director Trevor Jones, says he’s canceling the social media and television ads. He says he doesn’t want innuendo to distract from the goal of saving lives on the road.

Residents hope Rudolph thieves caught red-handed

ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Calif.

Thieves have made off with a statue of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that’s been a holiday fixture in a Los Angeles-area neighborhood for half a century.

Residents of Rolling Hills Estates say the 200-pound wooden statue was taken sometime Friday night.

The culprits left Rudolph’s broken antler behind.

Resident Tim Taylor, whose family has taken care of the handmade statue for several years, says he’s hoping it’s just a prank and that Rudolph will be returned.

KCBS-TV reports that “missing” posters have been distributed, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has taken a police report.

Buildings evacuated after marriage-proposal flop

AMSTERDAM

A Dutchman’s attempt at a romantic wedding proposal was simply smashing.

The unidentified lover in the central town of Ijsselstein rented a crane, planning to descend in front of his girlfriend’s bedroom window first thing Saturday morning, play her a song and then pop the question. Instead, the crane toppled over, smashing a large hole in the neighbors’ roof.

The man clambered to safety, and no one was injured.

According to the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper, the girlfriend said “yes” anyway. After speaking with police, the pair traveled to Paris to celebrate.

Then the crane fell again during attempts to right it with a larger crane, bashing in the rest of the neighbors’ roof. The town’s mayor is on the spot after the building was declared unsafe. Six apartments were evacuated.

Associated Press