ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Yes, it’s true: Michigan zoo sells exotic animal ‘doo’

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.

A zoo in southern Michigan is selling a composted mixture of manure produced by exotic animals.

Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek is hosting a “Zoo Doo” event Thursday.

Horticulturist Frank Cummins told the Battle Creek Enquirer that the zoo has compost available from herbivores that will sell at $25 a load to zoo members and $30 for nonmembers. Cummins says that the price is a deal, since cow manure can sell for around $2 or $3 a bag.

The Kalamazoo Gazette says zebra, antelope, giraffe and other animals are contributing to the gardening aid.

Binder Park Zoo says it’s a “fun and creative way” to raise money and dispose of waste. It also uses the compost as fertilizer at its facilities.

Hungry? Nebraska woman wolfs down 2 41/2-pound steaks

AMARILLO, Texas

A Nebraska woman celebrated breaking a Texas steakhouse’s speed record for eating a 41/2-pound slab of beef by polishing off another one.

The Amarillo Globe-News and the Big Texan Steak Ranch’s Twitter page say that competitive eater Molly Schuyler finished her first steak in 4 minutes and 58 seconds. The previous record was 8 minutes and 52 seconds.

The 5-foot-7, 125-pound mother from Bellevue, Neb., ate her second 41/2-pound steak in 9 minutes and 59 seconds.

The restaurant foots the bill for anyone who can eat one of the steaks, a baked potato, shrimp, a salad and bread roll in under an hour, so Schuyler ate those side dishes as well.

In February, the self-described “bottomless pit” ate 363 chicken wings in 30 minutes in Philadelphia.

School releases diplomas withheld over cap-tossing

NORRIDGE, Ill.

Administrators at a suburban Chicago high school have had a change of heart after withholding diplomas from an entire class because some students defied instructions not to toss their caps in the air at graduation.

Ridgewood High School in Norridge posted a message on its website saying it would only release diplomas if representatives of the graduating class apologized in person at the next school board meeting. It referred to the cap-tossing at last Tuesday’s ceremony as “disrespectful and insubordinate behavior.”

Parents and students expressed disbelief.

By Thursday, officials had reversed course and replaced the announcement with one saying it had “re-thought” its policy and would be sending out diplomas immediately.

Ridgewood High is known as the home of the Rebels.

Associated Press