UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

8-year-old finds mammoth tooth in Texas

ALLEN, Texas, March 7 (UPI) -- An Allen, Texas, man says an object found by his 8-year-old daughter has been confirmed to be a woolly mammoth tooth that's at least 8,000 years-old.

The tooth was found by Allison Dodd while she was searching for fossils in Waters Creek at the Day Spring Nature Preserve with her mother and father supervising, the Dallas Morning News reported Friday.

"We thought it might have been a big fish's rib cage or something like that," the girl said of the foot-long object.

The family brought the mystery object to the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas. They showed their find to collections curator Roger Sanderson.

"He kind of grinned when he saw it," said Mark Dodd, Allison's father. "And he showed us a smaller version of a similar-looking thing."

Dodd said Sanderson had the object confirmed as a mammoth tooth.

"Elephants are my favorite animal," Allison Dodd said proudly. "Elephants and mammoths are in the same group."

The girl said she plans to keep the tooth, despite offers from collectors.

Boy applies for Mountaineers coaching job

SOUTHINGTON, Conn., March 7 (UPI) -- A Connecticut boy who applied to be head football coach at the University of West Virginia got an encouraging response, although it was a rejection.

Michael Garrison, the university president, wrote Joshua Irizarry, thanking him for his interest in the coaching job and advising him that "an equally qualified candidate" had been selected to guide the Mountaineers, the Meriden, Conn., Record-Journal reports.

At age 12, Josh, a Southington resident, is a four-sports athlete who plays baseball, basketball and soccer in addition to football. But he has been bored this winter because he is recovering from a broken ankle.

His mother, Lina Irizarry, said he learned of the West Virginia opening from ESPN. He told her he wanted to apply and they discussed it seriously -- including handicaps like being too young to drive or own a car.

"When I talked with Josh, he was so willing to work around some of the hurdles and he really wanted to apply, so I told him writing the cover letter wouldn't hurt," she said. "When he received the response, he just lit up."

University employees said they were impressed by Josh's sense of humor. In his letter, he said he realized that a 12-year-old coach might be better suited for Temple University, notorious for its outclassed football team.

Court: Women can lie to protect honor

ROME, March 7 (UPI) -- The highest court in Italy has ruled that women can lie under oath about matters touching their honor without committing perjury.

The Court of Cassation overturned the conspiracy conviction of a woman identified only as Carla, The Times of London reported. Her lover was convicted of using her cell phone to harass her estranged husband, and Carla denied on the witness stand that she allowed him to use the phone.

"The fact of having a lover is a circumstance which causes injury to a person's honor in a family and a social context," the court opinion said.

The judges acknowledged that Carla lied to protect her position in a nasty divorce battle as well as to protect her honor. They found that admitting she allowed her lover to use the cell phone would have been tantamount to admitting a close personal relationship.

The court's positions on women have sometimes outraged feminists. The judges reversed themselves on one finding -- that women wearing tight jeans could not be raped because their cooperation was needed to remove their clothing.

Woman exiled for cursing neighbors

PRESTONPANS, Scotland, March 7 (UPI) -- A Scottish woman has been banned from her home for at least three months for loudly cursing her neighbors and their children.

Elizabeth Robertson is living with her sister while her husband remains in their home in Prestonpans, east of Edinburgh, The Scotsman reported. A sheriff's court imposed an anti-social behavior order on her in mid-February and it remains in effect until May.

"She was just terrible and we're all glad she's gone," one neighbor told The Scotsman. "She would shout and swear at you at all times of the day. My kids would be outside playing and she would scream at them from her garden. It was really a nightmare and caused us much stress."

Robertson's husband said that the family plans to challenge the order.