Watercooler Stories

Oldest Calif. one-room school closing

SAN FRANCISCO, June 11 (UPI) -- The longest-running one-room schoolhouse in California, opened in 1853, will close at the end of this term, officials say.

Wednesday was the final day for the Wooden Valley School in Napa County, KGO-TV, San Francisco, reported.

"We made it through the Civil War. We made it through the Depression. We've made it through the recession. This school can make it through all of that. It can survive this economic crisis also," says parent Wanda Berger.

But in the past two years the Napa Unified School District has cut $20 million from its budget and the closing of Wooden Valley will save $100,000 more money that Superintendent John Glaser says the district needs badly.

"You have to ask yourself what is good for the most number of kids?" says Glaser. "There are no easy answers. No low-hanging fruit left."

Parents say Wooden Valley has an uncommon sense of community that sees former students coming back after they graduate simply because they connect with the school. Losing the school, some say, is akin to losing a family, KGO-TV said.

"Feels like an empty spot in my heart," says local resident Daniel Norlund.

Because of what they call a little bit of money, an entire way of life is coming to an end, locals say.

"We're not losing it. It's becoming extinct," Leanne Lohand said.

Stolen bike returned to autistic girl

SAN FRANCISCO, June 10 (UPI) -- A San Francisco man said his autistic daughter's tandem bicycle, stolen nearly a month ago, was found and presented to the girl at a police station.

Michael Hoffman said the $1,425 tandem bicycle, a 24-speed Buddy Bike, was a favorite possession of his autistic daughter, Rachel, 9. It was stolen May 16 from a locked garage at the family's apartment complex, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Chandini Davis, 27, said she found the bike abandoned near her apartment, about three blocks from where it was taken, and learned of the theft while in the process of putting the bike in the lost and found section of Craigslist.com.

"I feel really happy that the girl is getting her bicycle back," Davis said Wednesday.

In an e-mail to United Press International Thursday, Davis said the bicycle she rides was stolen last month "and I know what it's like not to be able to replace something you loved."

Davis handed the bike over to police Tuesday and it was presented to Rachel at the police department's Central Station Wednesday.

"It means a lot," Hoffman said. "I didn't have any hope that we would ever see it again."

He said the bicycle is very important to his family because it brings Rachel joy and allows her to feel like the other girls riding their bikes in their neighborhood.

Police said they are still searching for the thief, who was pictured on a security camera. He was described as white with a shaved head and 25 to 30 years old.

Catholics upset at Mother Teresa 'stiff'

NEW YORK, June 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. Catholic group said officials with New York's Empire State Building rejected their request to light the building in honor of Mother Teresa.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said officials rejected his group's request to light up the landmark in blue and white lights for the 100th anniversary of Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa's birth, despite the building frequently being lit in a similar fashion for other occasions, ABC News reported.

"To stiff Mother Teresa while giving this honor to every other Tom, Dick and Harry is not going to sit well with Catholics," Donohue said.

Donohue said the letter from building owner Malkin Holdings did not give any explanation and the Catholic League has amassed 40,000 signatures and the support of at least two City Council members in its quest to convince Malkin to change course.

Anthony Malkin, president and chief executive of Malkin Holdings, released a statement Wednesday explaining the building is lit up for the religious celebrations of Easter, Eid al-Fitr, Hanukkah and Christmas.

"As a privately owned building, ESB has a specific policy against any other lighting for religious figures or requests by religions and religious organizations," he said.

Man says gun made him robbery target

MILWAUKEE, June 11 (UPI) -- A Milwaukee man known by locals for openly displaying his handgun on a hip holster says he is giving up open carry after he was robbed at gunpoint.

The 34-year-old man, who asked not to be named, said he believes openly displaying his handgun as allowed by law made him a target for the robbery and he sees it as evidence of the need for a concealed carry law, WTMJ-AM, Milwaukee, reported.

Neighbors said the man was always carrying the weapon when they spotted him and he was known locally as "the guy with the gun."

"It was kind of scary to just see him walking around all the time with that gun kind of just out in the open," neighbor Shambria Mayham Autman said. "I think he was trying to scare people off like, 'Yeah, don't mess with me,' kind of attitude, but it didn't work."

Nik Clark, the president of Wisconsin Carry, said he has never heard of a similar incident happening to any of the hundreds of thousands of people in the state who open carry.

"So it really is a very unusual situation, very unique," Clark said.