ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

General’s text messages misfired to old number

JERUSALEM

An Israeli businessman recently said he received calls and messages from senior Israeli and foreign military officials after he was assigned the former phone number of Israel’s military chief of staff.

Israeli Army Radio identified the man only as Yossi. Speaking to the radio station, he said he became alarmed when he began receiving what looked like very sensitive messages.

“A red light went on ... if it got in the hands of another citizen I don’t know what would happen,” he said.

It wasn’t entirely clear how Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot’s number was passed on to a private citizen.

In a statement, the military said “the phone number was changed more than a year ago as part of routine procedure coordinated with the supplier.” It did not elaborate.

According to the radio report, the provider said the number was not classified and was reassigned to another customer.

Iowa DOT leader is ‘Star Trek’ captain in spoof video

IOWA CITY, Iowa

The director of the Iowa Department of Transportation is boldly inviting his employees to go where they’ve gone many times before: a work meeting.

An official video produced by DOT staff features Director Mark Lowe and six other top department leaders dressed as characters from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

The video urged employees to attend a two-day annual leadership development conference Sept. 5 in Ames. It was recorded and distributed weeks ago.

Lowe is the star of the two-minute video, dressing in the uniform of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, playing with a toy snowplow at his desk and smiling as he flashes the Vulcan salute. With “Star Trek” theme music playing, he says the mission is to engage employees “to boldly go where no DOT has gone before.”

The DOT division directors featured in the video didn’t dress up but their official headshots have been photo-shopped onto the bodies of “Star Trek” characters.

Lowe, a lawyer and longtime DOT official, has led the agency since replacing Paul Trombino on an interim basis in 2016. Gov. Kim Reynolds made Lowe the agency’s permanent director last year.

Lowe recorded another video for last year’s conference invitation that features him eating a bowl filled with dates – and trying to “save” one. He said he has found that the videos are a “very quick, easy and efficient” way to raise awareness about the conference and connect with employees using self-deprecating humor.

He said the videos were produced and distributed using DOT internal resources and therefore “cost nothing,” adding he’s received positive feedback.

Associated Press