oddly enough

oddly enough

Active military-grade grenade found outside McDonald’s

THURMONT, Md.

An active military-grade hand grenade was uncovered Saturday afternoon in the parking lot outside a Maryland McDonald’s.

The Frederick News-Post reports a bomb technician with the Office of the State Marshal secured and removed the active grenade.

Dale Ednock, the bomb technician, told the News-Post the grenade found lodged about a foot under the pavement was there for quite some time. Ednock said it likely was a relic of the military base located in Thurmont, about 65 miles northwest of Baltimore, several decades ago.

Ednock said if the grenade had gone off, anyone in the vicinity could have suffered severe injuries or death.

The grenade was found about 1 p.m. by a landscaping crew.

Customers and employees were evacuated, and roads in all directions were shut down.

City scents: 2 baby skunks found in NYC subway station

NEW YORK

There are plenty of smells in New York City’s subways. But skunks?

The New York Post said Saturday police and a transit worker rescued two baby skunks that had strayed into a Bronx subway station the previous weekend. They were taken to a veterinarian’s office to be examined.

Police Transit Bureau Chief Joseph Fox tweeted plaudits to the officers and worker for helping the animals and, in his words, “getting far closer than I would have.”

The city parks department notes that skunks are native to New York and “part of NYC wildlife.”

City balks at $757 cupcake bill for worker’s farewell party

YAKIMA, Wash.

Officials in Washington state want a former city employee to pay back nearly $800 in taxpayer money she spent on cupcakes for her own office farewell party.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that when former Yakima human-resources director Cheryl Ann Mattia resigned in December, she ordered $757.40 worth of gourmet cupcakes from a local cafe.

City Manager Tony O’Rourke says the spending was a “gross misuse” of taxpayer money.

Mattia says the cost of the cupcakes stemmed from a misunderstanding between her and a staff member when the order was placed. But she says it was a legitimate expense.

O’Rourke says the city could take Mattia to small-claims court to recoup the money.

Associated Press