oddly enough

oddly enough

Russian girl, age 10, flies without ticket or identification

MOSCOW

Russian transport police say a 10-year-old girl flew from Moscow to St. Petersburg without identification or a ticket.

The incident that transport police reported last week raises questions about security at Russian airports.

The girl, whose identity was not revealed, left home for school last Tuesday and did not return.

Alexander Rzhanenkov of St. Petersburg city hall told Russian news agencies the girl went to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport where she mingled with a crowd boarding a flight to St. Petersburg. The official said she boarded the plane together with a large family with children. Police picked her up at St. Petersburg’s airport where she was wandering unaccompanied.

Children’s-rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said the girl’s trip sends “a serious alert sign” about airport security.

Cops: Fleeing man jumps into river, runs naked from hospital

PITTSBURGH

Police say a Pittsburgh man driving a stolen car ditched the vehicle and jumped into a river to escape from authorities. Police say after being captured, he fled naked from a hospital and hid inside a dumpster.

Police first chased 30-year-old James Edward Williams when a detective saw him driving a stolen car Wednesday morning. Police say Williams abandoned the car and ran through a recycling yard, where he pushed a steel shelving unit onto an officer. They say he later tried to swim away in the Ohio River.

His foot got tangled in a barge’s rope, and he was taken to Allegheny General Hospital. Later Wednesday, he ran naked from the hospital and was found hiding in a garbage container.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Williams.

Shall I compare thee to a carburetor? Indy 500 gets a poet

INDIANAPOLIS

An Indiana University student who is a poet and a performer has been named the Indianapolis 500’s first official poet since the early 20th century.

Adam Henze of Bloomington beat out more than 200 others who submitted Indy 500-themed poems for the contest co-sponsored by Indiana Humanities.

The competition revives an Indy 500 tradition from the 1920s, when an official poem was included in the race-day program.

Henze is an educator and a doctoral candidate at IU. He receives a $1,000 cash prize and two tickets to the 100th running of the race May 29.

His poem is titled “For Those Who Love Fast, Loud Things.” It will appear in the official race program. Henze also will read his winning poem at the Speedway during qualification weekend.

Associated Press