UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

N.Y. hires exterminator for Brooklyn rats

NEW YORK, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- New York has hired a private exterminator to take care of a rat infestation at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

The rats escaped a city Parks Department extermination program by fleeing from large holes in parks near Borough Hall and heading for the facility, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

A spokesman for Borough President Marty Markowitz said the official believed the Parks Department did the best it could to do away with the rodents but the problem escalated to the point where a private exterminator needed to be hired.

The spokesman said the pest problem is exacerbated by the proximity of a subway station and a farmer's market, as well as overflowing garbage cans in the area.

McDonald's objects to BET.com ad placement

OAK BROOK, Ill., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- McDonald's Corp. of Oak Brook, Ill., objects to ads for its fast food restaurants appearing alongside pictures of scantily-clad women on the BET.com Web site.

The company expressed concern about the position of its ads on the cable network's site after bloggers complained that the placement gave the appearance that McDonald's supports exploitative photos of black women on the site, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday.

"When we learned about our placement there, we worked through our agency to express our concern about the placement of our advertisement on that page of the Web site," said McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud. "It was not an appropriate representation for our brand."

The pages, which often showcased the backsides of bikini-clad women, were removed this month after a blogger ran a campaign to send complaints to companies that advertised on them.

"I'm glad that McDonald's changed their tune," said Gina McCauley, who asked readers of her blog, "What About Our Daughters," to contact companies that advertised on the BET.com site.

German company offers nude flight

ERFURT, Germany, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A travel agency in Germany is offering holidaymakers headed for the Baltic island of Usedom the option of flying in the nude.

The agency, OssiUrlaub, has booked a charter flight designed for adherents of FKK, or Freikorperkultur, which translates as "Free Body Culture," The Guardian reported Wednesday.

The FKK movement was widespread in East Germany under communist rule, and beaches across the entire country commonly have areas set aside for FKK bathers.

"FKK holidays were a popular way of spending the best weeks of the year. Now we want to make this freedom possible above the clouds," said OssiUrlaub chief Enrico Hess.

Tickets for the flight, which will depart from the city of Erfurt, cost about $450 each. The company said passengers must wait until they board the plane to disrobe.

The pilots and crew of the plane will remain clothed for security reasons, OssiUrlaub said.

Woman allegedly married 5 military men

MONROE, Ga., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A woman who allegedly married five men serving in the U.S. military has been charged with bigamy and fraud in Georgia.

Investigators say Shauna Keith had a husband from every branch of the service except the U.S. Coast Guard, WSB-TV Atlanta reported Wednesday.

Keith, 27, was arrested after being stopped for a traffic violation in Port Royal, S.C., the Walton Tribune reported. She came under investigation after marrying a U.S. Marine in Walton County, Georgia, late last year.

After the ceremony, when her new husband returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., Keith allegedly went to Paris Island, S.C., where she was "shacked up with another Marine," investigators said.

Keith allegedly told her latest husband's family she was the daughter of Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of the 82nd Airborne, and that she was a Navy captain.

Investigators said Keith used five aliases, including a name stolen from a woman who died in 2005, and has three children, one living with the father and two with her mother.