Watercooler Stories

Mother gives birth aboard airplane

DENVER, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- An expectant mother gave birth to a baby boy aboard a Southwest Airlines plane in flight Friday morning north of Denver, authorities said.

"We now have a new passenger," a flight attendant announced on the jet's public address system after the delivery.

The flight, scheduled from Chicago to Salt Lake City, was diverted to Denver when the mother went into labor at about 30,000 feet altitude, KMGH-TV, Denver, reported.

Flight attendants aboard the 737B threw down a blanket in the back of the cabin. A doctor who happened to be on board delivered the baby while in contact with Stat Med, a company with which Southwest contracts for medical emergencies.

After the plane landed at Denver International Airport, paramedics transported the mother and newborn to The Medical Center of Aurora.

A Southwest spokesman said the airline recommends women avoid flying after the 38th week of pregnancy.

Corvette stolen in 1970 returned

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A 1965 Corvette stolen in 1970 is being returned to its Nashville owner in perfect condition after being found in Scottsdale, Ariz., police said.

The Nassau blue convertible with a white top was worth about $2,200 when it was stolen from Chance Mayfield 39 years ago. Today it's worth an estimated $65,000, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported Sunday.

Mayfield walked out of a bar in Nashville in November 1970 to find the car gone.

"That ruined my night," Mayfield, 68, told The Tennessean.

The car was traced to Mayfield when a collector who had bought the car tried to register it with the Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles. A routine search of the serial number through the National Insurance Claims Bureau showed the car had been stolen.

Although the car had belonged to a number of collectors, no one apparently had ever checked the car against the insurance database, The Tennessean said.

Now that a court case with the most recent owner has been resolved, Mayfield said he will take a trailer to Arizona next week to bring his treasured Corvette home.

Pioneer pilot flies again -- at age 99

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A pioneer American female aviator whose career spanned 60 years took to the skies again -- at the age of 99, friends said.

Doris Lockness took the controls of a small helicopter Friday for an hour-long flight above the Sierra foothills in central California, The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday.

Lockness will turn 100 in February. She started flying in 1939 and earned licenses to fly helicopters, gliders, gyroplanes and seaplanes, the newspaper said.

The flight was her first in 15 years, an early birthday present from pilot John Crawford who had read her story in the Bee.

After the flight, Crawford, who served as co-pilot, found himself impressed with Lockness's flying skills.

"She did really well," he said. "I always love flying with someone with more experience and more stories than I have, and she certainly has that."

A group of friends, many of them members of the Ninety Nines organization of female pilots, watched the flight.

"She's a peach," one said about Lockness, "and she can fly anything."

Oldest cheese on sale -- at $50 a pound

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old cheddar cheese, believed to be the oldest available to the public, is going for $50 a pound, its Wisconsin makers say.

The artisanal block that debuted at Larry's Market in Brown Deer, Wis., is the most expensive cheese the suburban Milwaukee specialty food store has ever stocked, they say. Next week it will debut in tony Beverly Hills, Calif.

"I don't think there's any cheddar out there older than this one that you can actually buy," said John Umhoefer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.

"Fifteen years is a good stretch of time to hold a cheddar … . Making a cheddar that ripe, without it turning bitter or acidic, is a rare skill," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Friday.

The 1,200 pounds of cheddar was produced by Julie and Tony Hook of Mineral Point, Wis., who placed it in airtight plastic at 38 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 years. They kept tabs on its progress by checking a sample block twice a year, the Sentinel said.

And the result is worth the price to Brian Morello of Milwaukee, who bought a 3/4-pound block at Larry's Market.

"Cheese making is an art form," he said. "I consider my purchase to be a form of cheese philanthropy. For $50, I supported the arts and got a great piece of cheese."