UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Moscow trails Paris, London in rudeness

MOSCOW, March 14 (UPI) -- The Russians rank behind Western Europe in rudeness with a tourist survey putting Moscow third behind Paris and London in surliness.

TripAdvisor, a Web site, polled 1,400 people, The Moscow Times reported.

Moscow ranked in only one category. London, second to Paris in the "European Cities with the Most Unfriendly Hosts" category, was No. 1 in expense and dirtiness.

Brussels was rated the continent's most boring city. Prague won the crown as the best bargain.

Dmitry Shultsev, a spokesman for the Moscow government tourism committee, blamed the news media for a steady stream of negative stories about travel to Moscow. He said that similar stories appear every year just before the start of the tourist season.

"We do not agree with this," he told the Times. "Every year Moscow is becoming more comfortable, more interesting, cozier and more attractive for our guests from abroad."

Student who stopped bus faces discipline

MONTEREY, Calif., March 14 (UPI) -- A California high school student who saved a bus-load of elementary school pupils after the driver fell from her seat may be disciplined for being there.

Amanda Rouse, 15, had remained on the bus after it arrived at Marina High School because she wasn't feeling well. After driver Christine Gray picked up the younger children, she fell from her seat and Rouse yanked the emergency brake, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reported.

"We hit a bump and everything was going fast," said Rouse. "She fell off the seat and down the stairs."

Rouse helped Gray to her feet and the driver called the garage.

Sally Corell, Rouse's grandmother, said she is proud of her.

"She is in trouble with school because she made the wrong decision," Correll told the Mercury News. "But I can't help but believe that she was where God wanted her to be."

Rouse must attend a session of Saturday school for staying on the bus instead of going in to school and telling a teacher or administrator she was sick.

Fla. RV dealer: Buried trailers are art

TAMPA, Fla., March 14 (UPI) -- To a Florida RV dealer, his collection of half-buried Airstream trailers are a work of art.

To Hillsborough County, Fla., officials, they are a violation of a number of regulations on zoning, signs and waste disposal. After a hearing Friday, the County Code Enforcement board ordered Frank Bates to remove the trailers from his property in Dover within 30 days, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported.

Bates said that he wanted to do something to honor the Airstream on its 75th anniversary. He also sees the trailers, 7 1/2 of them, as an installation like "Cadillac Ranch," half-buried Cadillacs installed in Amarillo, Texas, in 1974.

At the hearing, Wallace Wilson, director of the University of South Florida art school, and Larry Thompson, president of the Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota testified on the artistic merits of "Airstream Ranch," the Times said.

Bates, who faces fines of $100 per day if he fails to meet the deadline, is trying to decide on his next step.

'Bomb' at law office proves to be turnip

FORT WAYNE, Ind., March 14 (UPI) -- The bomb squad in Fort Wayne, Ind., spent several hours dealing with a suspicious package that turned out to contain a turnip.

Employees at the Haller & Colvin law firm called police after they opened the package and found a blue gift bag, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported Friday. Police summoned bomb squad officers, who arrived with a robot and X-ray equipment.

After the package was discovered Thursday, the robot, nicknamed "Bob," carried it to a parking lot. It was X-rayed there -- using remote-controlled equipment -- and determined to be something other than an explosive device.

At that point, several hours after the scare began, officers opened the gift bag and found a raw turnip. It had been sent to Mark GiaQuinta, a lawyer with Haller & Colvin and president of the Fort Wayne community school board.