ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Barber, 90, to retire after 68 years, laments ugly bowl cut

CRANSTON, R.I.

A 90-year-old Rhode Island barber is putting down his clippers after 68 years.

Tony Manzi has cut five generations of hair at Manzi’s Barber Shop in Cranston. The Providence Journal reports the man known locally as Tony the Barber was set to retire Thursday.

Manzi says he’s “down in the dumps” about leaving but it’s time. Glaucoma has blurred vision in one of his eyes. He wears reading glasses for close shaves around the ears.

He describes the bowl cut as “just about the ugliest thing” he has seen and says he doesn’t understand modern “novelty” haircuts such as the Mohawk.

Manzi says he plans to do nothing but he has two children and five grandchildren to keep him occupied.

Phoenix firefighters rescue boy who got stuck in chimney

PHOENIX

Phoenix firefighters rescued a 13-year-old boy who got stuck in a chimney while playing with his friends on a roof.

The boy’s friends called 911 and their parents after he fell into the chimney Wednesday night, Capt. Ardell Deliz said. The boy tumbled about 5 feet into the opening, and the parents had no luck pulling him out.

Shortly afterward, the fire department arrived, and crews lowered a rope to him and got him to wrap it around his arms, Deliz said.

The boy had minor scrapes and bruises from the fall but no serious injuries, she said.

“He was just happy to be out of there,” Deliz said.

It marks the third time this year that the fire department has had to pull people out of chimneys, Deliz said. The other two occasions involved adults locked out of their homes who tried to get in through the chimney, she said.

Family of 2-year-old amputee adopts kitten that lost a limb

SAN JACINTO, Calif.

A 2-year-old cancer survivor with an amputated arm is getting a special gift: A kitten that also suffered an amputation.

Matt and Simone Tipton, of Orange County, had been searching for a kitten for their daughter Scarlette, who was born with a rare form of cancer. Scarlette’s left arm had to be amputated when she was 10 months old.

Doctors say she’s now cancer free.

Scarlette’s parents wanted to find a kitten that had undergone an amputation surgery to help in their daughter’s ongoing recovery. That’s when they heard about Holly, a kitten two women found bleeding from a traumatic injury in December.

The kitten’s left front leg was amputated.

The family drove to the San Jacinto animal shelter to adopt the cat named Holly on Christmas Eve.

Associated Press