oddly enough

oddly enough

Gnome homes evicted from park start appearing elsewhere

NEWPORT, Pa.

Some tiny gnome homes that were evicted from a Pennsylvania park are making magic elsewhere.

Little Buffalo State Park managers gave permission for Steve Hoke to create the miniature houses in December but then decided they could affect wildlife habitat.

Hoke had made about 40 gnome houses in tree roots, in hollow logs and on stumps around the forest near Newport. He says children loved the houses, but he removed them last month. Millerstown and Duncannon offered to keep the gnome homes in local parks.

News site Pennlive.com reported Monday that 11 gnome homes have been moved to Millerstown Community Park, and three are in Noye Park in Duncannon.

Hoke says the reaction to the gnome homes has been positive, and “people are thrilled to have them there.”

Miss. Senate OKs bill allowing armed guards in church

JACKSON, Miss.

Asked to choose between a Christian spirit of peace and a God-given right of self-defense, Mississippi senators are overwhelmingly favoring the latter.

The Senate voted 36-14 Tuesday to pass the bill, known as the Mississippi Church Protection Act. The bill returns to the House.

It says places of worship could designate members to undergo firearms training and carry guns to protect the congregation.

The bill also allows people to carry guns in holsters without a concealed-weapons permit, expanding on last year’s law allowing people to carry guns in purses without a permit.

Finally, the measure asserts no state official can enforce any federal executive order or administrative rule that violates the U.S. or Mississippi constitutions. It’s a challenge to the principle that federal law overrides state law.

Jilted lottery winner files for bankruptcy in Florida

SANFORD, Fla.

A Florida woman has filed for bankruptcy after losing a large chunk of a $1 million lottery jackpot to her boyfriend, who sued her for failing to share.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that 62-year-old Lynn Anne Poirier didn’t list former boyfriend Howard Browning as a creditor in the case filed Saturday. She listed the case against Browning as “pending.”

Last month, a Seminole County jury ordered her to pay Browning $291,000 after deciding that the couple had a valid but unwritten contract to split any large lottery jackpot.

Browning’s attorney, Sean Sheppard, asked a judge last week to tack on more than $150,000, claiming interest due from the 2007 jackpot.

Poirier took a one-time lump sum $750,000 payment and claimed in court there wasn’t an agreement to split the jackpot.

Associated Press