ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Big tree found near farm may be among Pennsylvania’s largest

PITTSBURGH

A forester in Pennsylvania says he’s discovered a massive red oak tree that may be one of the state’s biggest trees.

Pennsylvania Forest Management’s Tom McQuaide is in the process of submitting the tree’s measurements for inclusion in the Champion Trees of Pennsylvania, a registry of the state’s largest trees.

McQuaide says the red oak has a circumference of about 26 feet and a height of about 120 feet. Officials say the tree could be 400 years old.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports it was discovered near a Bell Township farm outside of Pittsburgh.

The largest recorded red oak in the state is in Delaware County and is 145 feet tall.

McQuaide says he and the property owner agreed to let the tree continue standing as a monument.

Driver to cops: Just a jogger, not connected to wreck

MADISON, Wis.

Police say a 19-year-old man flipped his car in Madison, Wis., then fled the scene, removed some clothes and pretended to be a jogger unconnected to the wreck.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the unidentified man made a lane change July 3 at the same time as another car. He overcorrected, hit the shoulder and his car overturned.

Police Chief Mike Koval says the suspect fled and removed some clothing. When officers caught up with him, he told them he was an “uninvolved jogger.”

Officers ticketed the man for failure to have control, hit and run and operating after revocation.

Police say tests showed the man wasn’t impaired.

Budget surplus results in $68 checks for residents

LANGHORNE, Pa.

A Pennsylvania township with more money than it anticipated from increased property tax collection has decided to give the dividends to residents.

Middletown Township in Langhorne sent 14,361 checks for $68 each to all owners of properties with structures on them.

Efforts to keep town expenses down while increasing delinquent-tax collection led to more money than anticipated in the general fund. The township board of supervisors decided to divide a $1 million portion of the surplus evenly among property owners.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Amy Strouse tells the Bucks County Courier Times it’s irresponsible for a township to hang on to that level of funding when it has “the opportunity to help people out a little bit.”

Strouse says residents feel as though they pay too much in taxes.

Associated Press