Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Roadside display asks for prom date CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 15 (UPI) -- A North Carolina high school student said he made up for the lateness of his prom invitation to his girlfriend with balloons and signs at the side of the road. Advertisement Jake Doster, a senior at South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, said he arranged balloons and 10 pieces of poster board at the entrance to his girlfriend's Cameron Wood neighborhood that combined to create the invitation: "Lauren will you go to the prom with me? Love, Jake," The Charlotte Observer reported. Doster waited, flowers in hand, for his girlfriend of six months, junior Lauren Blight, to drive past on her way to drop off a friend. Blight, who immediately accepted the invitation, said Doster has always been romantic. "He's always bringing me flowers," she said. Officials: State employee skipped Fridays Advertisement ALBANY, N.Y., April 15 (UPI) -- New York state officials said a retired prison food services director scammed nearly $500,000 from the state in various ways, including taking off Fridays. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Inspector General Joseph Fisch said their investigation found Howard Dean, 64, of Locke, bilked the state Treasury of about $230,000 by skipping work at the state's Food Production Center in Rome every Friday for 17 years but claiming the hours on his time cards, the New York Post reported. The report said Dean "freely admitted" to skipping work on Fridays. "Quite simply, this is outrageous," DiNapoli said. The report said Dean was also able to scam the state out of $240,000 in travel expenses by having his supervisors falsely list his official work station as Albany. "One can liken this to a robbery without a gun, with his supervisors serving as lookouts," Fisch said. The officials said they believe Dean should repay the taxpayer funds and they may go after his $57,381 state pension. N.J. woman wins Pillsbury Bake-Off CHICAGO, April 15 (UPI) -- A Delanco, N.J., woman Wednesday walked off with $1 million and a new oven as the first prize winner of the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off. Advertisement Sue Compton's Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups bested 100 other offerings in the contest, sponsored by General Mills, General Electric, The Hershey Co. the J.M. Smucker Co., Eggland's Best, Land O'Lakes Inc. and Fisher Nuts. The prizes, which also included $7,000 in GE Profile kitchen appliances, were presented on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "This recipe didn't include many ingredients but they were combined in the most imaginative way possible," said Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest judge Jonell Nash, food industry consultant and former food editor of Essence Magazine. Compton was among 92 women and eight men competing in the finals. Three other finalists took home $5,000 prizes and free ovens: Niki Plourde of Gardner, Mass., for her Tomato-Basil Eggs Alfredo in Bread Baskets; Evelyn Henderson of Roseville, Calif., for her Salmon Pecan-Crusted Tartlets, and Kellie White of St. Louis for her Zesty Lime-Fish Tacos. The winning recipes are available at www.BakeOff.com. Blind teen bags prize turkey ELMO, Mo., April 15 (UPI) -- A blind teenager from Kansas shot a prize turkey on his first hunt with some help from a couple of skilled assistants. Charlie Wilks, a 14-year-old who became blind at age 6, bagged the bird Saturday on his grandfather's farm in the northwestern part of the state, The Kansas City Star reported. He was accompanied by Jack Young, president of the National Youth Hunting Association, and Chris Parrish, a champion turkey caller. Advertisement "Even though I'm blind, I don't let it hold me back," Charlie told the newspaper. "I don't look at myself as any different than anyone else." He has proved it by playing on the freshman football team at Emporia High School, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Al Reynolds, a former lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs. He has also bagged a couple of deer on hunts with his grandfather. On Saturday, Parrish and Young waited for hours with Charlie in a blind. Young helped Charlie line up his shotgun when a 24-pound turkey appeared. After bagging the bird, Charlie began talking about the snapshots he planned to post on his Facebook page.
