oddly enough

oddly enough

Concrete in signal box shuts London subway line

LONDON

It’s a mishap that will cement itself in London transit lore.

A major line on the London Underground was largely shut down Thursday after fast-setting concrete leaked into signaling equipment.

Subway operator Transport for London initially identified the cause of the problem on the Victoria Line as “flooding.” But London Underground later said contractors working on a new station had leaked water and cement into a signal-control room, damaging equipment.

Operations director Nigel Holness said most of the line was shut, and service was unlikely to return to normal before today.

The London subway system, the world’s oldest, sees about 3.5 million journeys each day.

Protesting Utah student pays tuition in $1 bills

SALT LAKE CITY

A University of Utah student says he paid his tuition bill with 2,000 one-dollar bills as a silent protest against the rising cost of college.

Luq Mughal brought a metal case full of greenbacks to the school Tuesday, the deadline for payment. He says he collected the cash from several banks.

Mughal tells The Salt Lake Tribune he spends weekends working to pay for his electrical-engineering degree.

The 21-year-old says he gets a discount because his father is a faculty member and acknowledges his situation is far from the worst on campus.

Undergraduate in-state tuition rates have more than doubled in Utah over the past 10 years. Trustees set a 5 percent tuition hike this year, saying they needed to fund a cost-of-living raise for employees as state funding declines.

Bird droppings force Spokane bus stop to move

SPOKANE, Wash.

A bus stop in Spokane happens to be under a favorite perch for birds, and the droppings are so bad the Spokane Transit Authority has been forced to move the stop out of the drop zone.

Riders say the sidewalk and bench under the power lines at the intersection of Green and Mission are filthy.

KREM reports the transit authority plans to move the bus stop to a cleaner spot a half-block away.

Associated Press