ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Uruguay teachers go on strike to protest attacks by parents

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay

You could call them helicopter parents on steroids.

There has been a wave of physical attacks on teachers by students’ mothers and fathers in this South American country, and the educators are going on a 24-hour strike to protest.

The teachers union called the work stoppage Wednesday to draw attention to six attacks since the current school year began in March in the capital Montevideo and other cities.

In the most recent attack, a woman punched a school director in the face Tuesday for having called a doctor to examine her son for behavioral problems.

The director of the school in Montevideo reportedly called the child’s parents beforehand, but they reportedly refused to come to the school.

Meat mess on NY road stinks up cars, keeps car washes busy

QUEENSBURY, N.Y.

Some car owners are raising a stink after driving a road littered with meat in upstate New York.

Dozens of chunks of meat were on the road in front of a mall July 10 in Queensbury, The Post-Star of Glens Falls said July 12 in reporting on the meat mystery in the town about 60 miles north of Albany.

Police believe meat fell off a truck that might have been heading from a farm or slaughterhouse to a rendering plant, but no one has come forward to claim it.

The state Department of Transportation cleaned the meat up, but driver James Teele and other motorists were still dealing with the aftermath recently.

Teele said he immediately took his SUV to a car wash after driving through the mess en route home, “but it was too late.” He told the Post-Star: “My vehicle still smells like rotting meat” and flies are swarming around it.

He said he believes the offending material was chicken fat.

Car washes were busy with motorists trying to obliterate the meat smell.

As many as 35 drivers flocked to Hoffman Car Wash, which started asking them to hose off their cars in a self-service area before going through the automatic wash, manager Matt Phillips said.

Still, the stench was tough to take.

“My guys had to step out for a while, it was so bad,” Phillips said.

Associated Press