UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Illinois jeweler sells 'U.S. Senate seats'

PEORIA, Ill., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate seats are for sale in Illinois, says a Peoria jeweler who is producing necklace charms in the shape of the Senate's chairs.

In a parody of the legal predicament faced by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, accused of trying to "sell" the vacant Senate seat of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for campaign cash and personal favors, Brad Pettet of Pettet Jewelry Designs says his ¾-inch "Senate seats" are buyable for between $35 and $175, Gatehouse News Service reported Monday.

"The whole point of this is to have a little bit of fun," Pettet told the news service. "People say they are embarrassed to be from Illinois. I'm not embarrassed. It's Chicago politics. You ought to be used to it by now."

Pettet said the necklace and bracelet charms sell in sterling silver for $35 each, in 14-karat gold for $175 each and in platinum, which he said will go at market prices.

Mud race entrants undeterred by cold temps

LONDON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Participants in the Maldon Mud Race say cold temperatures did make the annual event in the British town of Maldon a bit more difficult.

At least two Mud Race competitors confessed to having had a hard time running 500 yards across a muddy river bed during 28 degree weather, before heading back to where they started, the Times of London said.

"It was tough out there," 36-year-old contestant Stuart Putt said of Sunday's event. "I am a runner anyway, but this was hard."

Essex County resident Vicki Sharman agreed, saying she questioned whether she would endure such conditions for a second time during the next year's Mud Race.

"It was freezing out there and hard work," the 23-year-old told The Times. "I don't know if I would do it again -- the mud got deep and I just had to crawl."

The newspaper said the Mud Race first began in the 1970s when regulars at an area pub would cross the River Blackwater channel to drink from a beer barrel.

Man will throw Lexus in with home sale

HOUSTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A man desperate to sell a luxury home in Houston in the current down U.S. real estate market is offering to throw in a Lexus to make a sale, a broker says.

Broker Pam Harris said upon hearing that Barry Reynolds had offered to add a new car to any finalized sale of his 5,500-square-foot home, she was immediately intrigued, KHOU-TV, Houston, said Monday.

She said by offering the new car to potential buyers, Reynolds was making his real estate offering more attractive to the limited number of home buyers during the ongoing economic crisis.

"I think it's awesome. I think it's the sizzle for the steak," she said.

Reynolds has been unable to move the property for more than six months.

"We could either choose to stay and have a city home and a country home, or we could try to do something different," Reynolds told KHOU-TV, referring to a second home he purchased after putting the Houston home up for sale.

Racy snowboards spark free speech debate

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Free speech on the ski slopes is being put to the test in Vermont because of a new breed of racy snowboard designs, observers say.

The Playboy snowboards sold at a local ski shop in Burlington, Vt., featuring naked women are drawing protests from parents and others, such as the Girl Scout Council of Vermont, which is considering taking its concerns to state lawmakers, The Boston Globe reported Monday.

"When you really think about it, it's a young man standing on top of a naked woman's body," Nicole Zarrillo, 38, an office manager for a Burlington nonprofit told the newspaper. "I probably could have gotten past it, because I try to have an open mind, but seeing it like that, it's offensive."

Burton Snowboards, which sells the snowboards and has a reputation as a progressive company, is at the center of a controversy with residents, students, and politicians debating free speech on the slopes, the newspaper said. The owners declined to be interviewed, the Globe said.