ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

India: Obama’s tree is not dead

NEW DELHI

Officials in India want to make one thing clear: The tree that President Barack Obama planted in New Delhi several weeks ago is not dead. It just looks dead.

The peepal tree was awash in leaves when Obama planted it at the New Delhi memorial to Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi. Recently, though, it was just a single lonely stem.

Its lack of leaves has been giving Indian officials sleepless nights, with the media here blasting them for allowing the tree to die weeks after the presidential visit.

But the reality: Peepal trees often lose their leaves this time of year.

“It’s a seasonal phenomenon,” B.C Katiyar, a top regional government horticulturist, said recently, after he and other officials visited the tree and pronounced it in good health. “It will send out shoots within the next 10 days.”

The peepal, or ficus religiosa, is seen as holy by many in Asia — the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment under the tree in 589 B.C.

Malfunctioning Miami Beach sign sends mixed message

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.

A sign welcoming tourists to Miami Beach briefly offered visitors a confusing message.

The flashing, portable sign along the Julia Tuttle Causeway on Tuesday read: “Welcome visitors! Prohibited.” It was supposed to flash this message on three different screens: “Welcome visitors! Prohibited on the beach: glass, metal, alcohol and Styrofoam.”

By Tuesday evening, city officials had apologized for the error and the sign was removed to be corrected.

City spokeswoman Nannette Rodriguez told the Miami Herald that Miami Beach certainly welcomes visitors. She offered apologies to anyone who was offended.

Feeling flush? Find bathrooms for bus drivers for $97,000

SEATTLE

It’s a job that might make you flush: Find easily accessible restrooms for Seattle-area bus drivers and earn nearly $100,000 a year.

Bus-service provider King County Metro Transit is looking to hire a “comfort station coordinator,” which comes with an annual salary as high as $97,000, depending on experience.

Metro Transit spokesman Jeff Switzer told KOMO television station in Seattle that the agency has a legal obligation to find access to bathrooms for the 2,600 drivers who keep the community moving.

The state Department of Labor and Industries cited Metro Transit last November after an audit found drivers were not provided unrestricted access to restrooms and some wore diapers.

Associated Press