Thursday, September 18, 2014
oddly enough
Florida woman flies plane on 90th birthday
PALM COAST, Fla.
A central Florida woman celebrated her 90th birthday by flying a four-seat Cessna.
Billy Jones had to sit on a pillow to see out the windshield Tuesday, but she took off with flight instructor Kurt Schneider by her side and landed some 30 minutes later at Flagler County Airport.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports the flight wasn’t out of the ordinary for the 5-foot-tall Jones. For her 80th birthday, she went skydiving. When she turned 85, she flew a glider.
Jones has been taking flying lessons with Schneider for months “just for the fun of flying.”
She also has snorkeled with seals in the Galapagos Islands and gone on safari in Africa. And she always takes the stairs to her third-floor apartment.
Skunk with head stuck in beer can rescued in Ohio
OXFORD, Ohio
A skunk with a beer can stuck on its head had to be rescued near a fraternity house in southwestern Ohio.
Oxford police said a resident called them about the skunk’s predicament Sunday. Police found the animal banging around trying to get the can off and running into shrubs.
Skunks are known for the offensive spray they can emit when threatened. But Sgt. Jon Varley said an animal-control officer was able to free the skunk without getting sprayed
The animal then was released.
Varley said police in the city about an hour’s drive northwest of Cincinnati have received calls before about skunks and other wild animals. But he said this was the first one he knew of that had to be rescued from a beer can.
Man at Texas Chick-fil-A pays $1,000 to treat diners
ABILENE, Texas
A generous customer has paid $1,000 to pick up the tab for diners in dozens of vehicles at the drive-thru lanes of a West Texas fast-food restaurant.
KTXS-TV reports the man was in a white truck at a Chick-fil-A in Abilene on Monday night when he handed over the cash.
The man in the drive-thru lane told employees he wanted to pay for everyone behind him for as long as the cash lasted. He told workers that his name is John, that he just wanted to make everyone’s Monday better, and he handed over $100 bills — 10 of them.
The franchise owner, Brian LaCroix, said the cash was enough to pay for drive-thru food for people in 88 vehicles over about an hour.
The donor’s identity remains unknown.
Associated Press