ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Piper the cat gets adopted

FINDLAY, Ohio

An orange cat that got a lot of attention when it was rescued after spending days in an Ohio drainpipe during severely cold weather has recovered and been adopted.

The Hancock County Humane Society’s animal control officer tells The Courier in Findlay the new owners promised that the male cat, dubbed Piper, would be kept indoors.

The cat initially refused attempts to lure it out of the pipe with tuna, the classic call of “here, kitty, kitty” and even a cellphone app that meowed. Groundskeepers at a school in Findlay cut through the pipe Jan. 10 to free the cat, which was muddy, emaciated and hypothermic.

A veterinarian says Piper turned out to be a pleasant, happy creature despite the health problems.

NYC mayor’s pizza fork gets $2,500 in charity sale

NEW YORK

The results of an auction just might put a fork in the flap over New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to use cutlery to eat pizza at a Staten Island restaurant.

A charity auction website shows the fork that he used sold for $2,500 to an anonymous bidder. The item fetched six bids in an online auction that ended Feb. 21.

Proceeds will benefit the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The group helps first-responders and wounded soldiers.

Foundation Chairman Frank Siller tells the Daily News that the winning bidder gave the fork back to Goodfella’s Pizzeria.

Pizzeria co-owner Marc Cosentino tells news site DNAInfo “it’s a nice piece of New York history to have.”

The mayor has taken jabs over his utensil usage lightheartedly.

Cleanup crew returns discarded Ohio birthday card

MEDINA, Ohio

A birthday card containing a $50 bill is back with the intended recipient thanks to northern Ohio sanitation workers who spotted the unopened purple envelope in the trash and drove it to the home where it was mistakenly discarded.

Lucy Hamer tells The Medina County Gazette she was stunned and impressed when the workers showed up at her home with the card her sister-in-law had sent her.

Worker Josh Kerns remembered noticing the card in the trash can and says he held onto it and eventually opened it to make sure it wasn’t something important. He said $50 is a lot, and it needed to be returned.

Hamer jokes that she may have been spared an awkward encounter with her sister-in-law if she never thanked her for the gift.

Associated Press