Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MORNING PREP - MORNING PREP - MORNING PREP - MORNING PREP
------------------------
! KICKERS !
------------------------
ROB FORD DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME TWEET BLASTED
TORONTO (AP) — He has been under fire for smoking crack, using foul language and being drunk in public. But this time, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's chief of staff is taking the heat for the latest thing to make the mayor an international laughingstock. In a tweet that went out under his name, Ford he reminded people to set their clocks back an hour before turning in Saturday night. Trouble is, as just about every schoolkid knows, the rule is "spring forward, fall back," meaning clocks should have been set forward an hour. The problem led one sports writer to mock Ford as "the mayor who won't even follow the dimensional rules of time."
OK TO BE ANNOYING
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Some people find annoying people, well, annoying — and probably think there should be a law against them, too. But in Grand Rapids, Michigan, it's now perfectly legal to irk people. The Grand Rapids Press reports (http://bit.ly/1cqxCRm ) the City Commission is doing away with a 38-year-old section of city code that states "no person shall willfully annoy another person." The city attorney recommended the repeal, saying the wording of the law is unconstitutional because it's so vague — and that the law is "simply unenforceable." A final decision is expected tomorrow. The city attorney has been scouring the penal code to find archaic rules — such as one that would allow for jail time for those who fail to return a library book.
LIBRARY BOOK RETURNED AFTER MORE THAN TWO DECADES
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Imagine if daily late-return fees were applied in this case. More than two decades after someone checked a cookbook out of a Kansas library, it is just now being returned. 6NewsLawrence reports that (http://bit.ly/1fc430q ) a copy of "The Versatile Grain and the Elegant Bean: A Celebration of the World's Most Healthful Foods" turned up in a Lawrence Public Library return box last week. The book had been checked out on September 24, 1992. Back in 1992, the maximum late fee was $3; now it's $4.50. A library official suspects the borrorer misplaced the book — and just recently came across it.
HOT WIENERS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Usually calling someone a wiener would be fighting words. But in Rhode Island, them's eating words instead. One of the state's specialities is known as hot wieners — and as locals would tell you, please don't call them hot dogs. They come with mustard, special meat sauce, chopped onions and celery salt — and are served on a steamed bun. Olneyville New York System is one of the best known spots to get a hot weiner in Rhode Island. The place was recently named an "America's Classic" by the James Beard Foundation.
UNDERWEAR RUN HELD IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — It was a 5K run in which participants were urged to run in their underwear. But it wasn't one of THOSE kinds of underwear races. As part of the 3.1 FUNderwear Run yesterday, runners were asked to wear their underwear as OVERwear — outside their clothes. Organizers say about 300 people took part in the race, despite misty conditions and a 21-degree temperature at the start of the event. It's part of an event to support Gilda's Club Grand Rapids — a health support community where people can find laughter in the face of serious illnesses like cancer. The event runs through Sunday and will feature comedians like Jay Leno, Sinbad and Chris Tucker.
COLLEGE STUDENT RENTS SPACE ON MORTARBOARD
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Officially, those caps graduates wear then toss into the air at commencement are called mortarboards. But one student at the University of Michigan-Flint senior has made his mortaboard into a sort of billboard. The Flint Journal reports Alex Benda has been selling ad space on his graduation cap. The paper reports that as of last week, he had raised $5,400. The grad-to-be — who is 22 — wants to rent out as much of the 100 square inches of space on his graduation cap as he can before he walks the stage to get his degree on May 4. He says he'll use the money to pare down his $30,000 student loan debt.
by Oscar Wells Gabriel II
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
