Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Prison holds beauty pageant BOGOTA, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A former paramilitary leader was crowned a beauty queen at the close of an annual pageant at Colombia's Good Shepherd prison. Advertisement Diana Layton, 21, who joined a right-wing paramilitary group at the age of 12 and acted as commander of a death squad, won the tiara and gift bag following the pageant at the Bogota prison, the Toronto (Canada) Globe and Mail reported Friday. "I came from a place where you had to act like a man. I walked in rubber boots, wore camouflage, and carried a machine gun," Layton said. "To feel so feminine preparing for the competition is so nice. I feel beloved and admired." Virginia Camacho, secretary of the prison and coordinator of the pageant, said the event can give important self-worth to the prisoners. "The fact that they made a mistake in their lives doesn't mean they aren't allowed to be a human being or feel like a woman," Camacho said. Advertisement 'Blues Brothers' mall to be demolished HARVEY, Ill., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Illinois officials announced plans to demolish a suburban Chicago mall that served as a set for a famous scene in the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers." Gov. Pat Quinn said Thursday the state is receiving a $4 million federal grant to demolish Dixie Square Mall in Harvey to make way for redevelopment to revitalize the area, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday. The mall, which has been vacant for more than 30 years, served as a filming location for the mall car chase scene in "The Blues Brothers." "Dixie Square has been a place that we know has to change fundamentally," Quinn said. "I look forward to the day real soon when we will have this site cleaned and available for development. "This is a huge investment in cleaning up Dixie Square. For years and years it has been an eyesore," he said. Local officials have expressed hopes of replacing the Dixie Square Mall with a new shopping center, but no plans have been finalized. Officials said the demolition is scheduled to begin in November and will last for about four months. Top karaoke singers compete for dumplings Advertisement MOSCOW, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Karaoke enthusiasts from 28 countries including the United States and Britain have gathered in Russia to sing for a prize of 1 million dumplings. The 2010 Karaoke World Championships features a male contestant and a female contestant from each participating country and the top winner will be awarded 1 million Siberian dumplings, or pelmeni, The Daily Telegraph (Britain) reported Friday. Organizers said contestants are allowed to sing their renditions in the language of their choosing. They said all of the contestants are amateur singers. 96-year-old skydives for charity DELAND, Fla., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A Florida man marked his 96th birthday by skydiving as part of an effort to raise money for an Alzheimer's disease non-profit. Donald Sugg of DeLand said his birthday jump Thursday was aimed at inspiring people to donate funds to the Alzheimer's Association Central and North Florida Chapter, based in Altamonte Springs, and he wore a custom-made jumpsuit emblazoned with the group's logo and address, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday. Sugg, who said he first jumped out of a plane with his two sisters 13 or 14 years ago, said he is hoping to use the attention he gains as an elderly skydiver to raise money for the charity. Advertisement "It'll grab attention. You watch the planes take off, there aren't going to be too many 96-year-olds jumping off," he said before the jump Thursday. Sugg said he has been skydiving at least once a year since his first jump and he has no plans to stop. "This is just the start," Sugg said.
