Watercooler Stories

Ann Arbor may allow chicken coops

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Officials in Ann Arbor, Mich., are working on a plan to allow residents of the college town to set up their own chicken coops.

City Councilman Stephen Kunselman told his colleagues during the weekend there is support among residents who like the idea of having access to "farm fresh" eggs, which some foodies consider to be tastier and healthier than the store-bought variety.

"You can live in New York City and have chickens,'' Kunselman told his colleagues. "It's not a matter of how urban you are. It's a matter of political will.'"

The Ann Arbor News said some of Kunselman's colleagues questioned the idea. One quipped that he liked fresh milk and should be allowed to graze a cow in his backyard.

Kunselman was undeterred and said he would bring a formal resolution to the council sometime in the near future.

Manure a stinky mystery

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Four months of midnight manure dumpings has created a stinky mystery in Anchorage, Alaska.

An estimated 100 tons of manure are now sitting in two piles on the lot near a storage company and a strip mall, and it could cost up to $6,000 to haul it away, the Anchorage Daily News reported Monday.

"It's the Great Manure Caper of 2007," said Ron Teekell, an owner of Storite Storage located next to the smelly piles.

Rick Novy, a city code enforcement officer, said he e-mailed the lot's property manager in Hawaii. "He had no idea," Novy said.

There are tire tracks leading from the piles. Teekell and others think the culprit is someone looking to avoid paying dumping fees, which can run $45 a month

"We can take moldings of the tire tracks," he said. "What do you think about DNA testing?"

At women's college, he stands alone

WELLESLEY, Mass., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Mohammad Usman stands out like a sore thumb on his college campus -- he's the only male at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

The 19-year-old New Yorker is a gender oddity among the 2,300 female students thanks to a student exchange program, The Boston Globe reported Monday.

"I thought it would be really fascinating to be the only male at an all-women's college," said Usman, a government and geography double major at Dartmouth, who is taking two classes at Wellesley this fall. "I like to believe I'm curious."

His presence on campus definitely draws attention.

"A lot of people don't know his name, really," said Johanna Peace, a Wellesley junior and the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, the Wellesley News. "They're aware that there's a boy on campus. And if they see him, they'll say, 'Oh -- there's the boy.' "

"Most guys who are on campus are somebody's boyfriend," said Amy Goodman, a sophomore in Usman's world politics class. "So when there's a guy who doesn't have anybody and who's going to an all-girls school, it's going to make people go, 'Oh, who is this person?' "

Hunting near airport draws citations

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Spending quality time together hunting turned out to be a bad idea for a Pennsylvania father and son who tried doing it too close to the Pittsburgh airport.

William Kuriger, 63 was charged with disorderly conduct last week and William Kuriger, 43, was cited for criminal trespass and illegally carrying a gun onto airport property, WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh reported Monday.

Pittsburgh International Airport sits on about 9,000 acres in Findlay Township, much of it wooded, which makes it a tempting spot for hunters. But it's not legal to do so, as the two Sewickley men discovered even though they weren't near any runways or buildings.