Watercooler Stories

Coast Guard rescues ice-trapped swan

LORAIN , Ohio, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard said a black swan was rescued after it became stuck in Ohio's iced-over Black River.

Chief Seth Tomas of the Coast Guard's Lorain Station said four ice-rescuers swam to the swan and used their hands to break up the 1 1/2 inch thick ice after the trapped fowl was reported by a railroad bridge operator, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Tuesday.

"The guardian ethos is the essence of today's Coast Guard," Tomas said. "Our core values remain focused on saving lives and protecting both people and the environment. My crew responded because their commitment to being guardians would not allow them to sit idle while this swan froze to death in the ice."

Rescuers took the swan to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village, Ohio, to recover from its ordeal.

Fla. county wants less revealing swim togs

CLEARWATER, Fla., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- County officials in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area are considering rules that would ban beachwear leaving too little to the imagination.

While officials say the change would make Pinellas County beaches friendlier to families, detractors say the rules might actually drive tourists away, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

"It's certainly going to have a negative impact, because it's going to turn people away who want to wear less bathing suit than their grandmother does," said Ken Kushman, secretary of Tampa Area Naturists.

The regulations would ban thongs and G-strings for women at Fort De Soto, Sand Key and Fred Howard Parks. Men would have to wear proper bathing suits.

Bob Browning, the park district supervisor at Fort De Soto, said that men sometimes show up wearing a sock attached to fishing line that covers the sexual organ but not much else. He said that arguments between the scantily clad and parents of small children sometimes get ugly.

"It's very hard to explain to visitors, whether they are local or otherwise, that it's okay, because it's perfectly legal," Browning said.

Raccoon carcasses quick sellers in Mo.

MONTROSE, Mo., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A Missouri raccoon trapper finds that his frozen carcasses disappear quickly when he sells them out of his car trunk in a parking lot.

Larry Brownsberger of Montrose sells the raccoons for $3 to $7 each, The Kansas City Star reports. His customers say that the meat tastes good and is economical and healthy.

Raccoon is a lot of work. The frozen carcasses have to be thawed, soaked in brine overnight and parboiled for two hours -- and that's before the final roasting or barbecuing.

"Good things come to those who wait," a woman who said she has been eating raccoon for most of her 86 years, told the Star.

"Raccoon meat is some of the healthiest meat you can eat," Beringer said. "During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good."

Each raccoon can feed four or five adults, making it cheaper than most supermarket meat.

Police: Muggers caught after taunting call

NEW YORK, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Police said five teenagers accused of mugging a New York state man were arrested after they allegedly called the victim the next day to gloat about the crime.

Scarsdale police Lt. Bryant Clark said the 50-year-old New Rochelle man was beaten by a group of young men at about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday while he was waiting for a bus home from the Scarsdale Public Library, the White Plains (N.Y.) News-Journal reported Tuesday.

Clark said the attackers took the man's briefcase and fled the scene in a car.

However, he said investigators got a break in the case when the victim received a phone call Wednesday from a group of young men who claimed to be his attackers.

"They actually called him to taunt him about the beating,'' Clark said. "That's what ultimately led to their arrests."

He said police traced the call to a house in White Plains where they discovered the stolen briefcase. White Plains residents Michael Marzano, 18, and Eric Pacicca, 17, were arrested at the house alongside Christopher Brown, 16, who was visiting from San Diego. Clark said two additional young men, White Plains residents Jeffrey Polono, 18, and Joseph Quinones, 19, were arrested after officers learned of their alleged involvement in the attack.

All five teenagers were charged with second-degree robbery and were taken to the Westchester County jail.