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Hoekstra's couch museum-bound

HOLLAND, Mich., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A Michigan museum said the couch former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., slept on during his years in Congress will be displayed as an example of "Dutch frugality."

The Holland Museum in Holland, Mich., said Hoekstra's couch, which served as his Washington bed for the last eight of his 18 years in office, was a logical addition to the museum's collection, The Detroit News reported Monday.

"It's the perfect symbol of Dutch frugality," said Thea Grigsby, the museum's executive director.

Hoekstra was well-known for sleeping on his office couch long before sofa sleeping became a popular symbol for cost-cutting on Capitol Hill. Fellow Michigan lawmakers Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga of Zeeland and Democratic Rep. Hansen Clarke of Detroit cited Hoekstra's sleeping arrangements as inspiration for their own couch-bound habits.

The museum said it paid $1,600 for the black leather couch.

Babe's 1927 bat is on display in hospital

BALTIMORE, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A baseball bat from Babe Ruth's 1927 season with the New York Yankees went on display at a Baltimore hospital to raise funds and celebrate his birthday.

The Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation and Museum teamed up with Mercy Medical Center to display the bat at the hospital Wednesday, the 116th anniversary of Ruth's birth, The Baltimore Sun reported Monday.

The bat, which Ruth used while hitting 60 home runs in the 1927 season, was displayed for the public for the first time Sunday after years in the museum's private archive.

Visitors and patients were allowed to hold the bat while wearing protective gloves and pose for pictures in exchange for a $10 donation to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Man climbs from moving recycling truck

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A Florida recycling truck driver said he was shocked when a man climbed out from the pit of the truck and knocked on the windshield while he was driving.

Darrel Baker, 44, a driver for Advanced Disposal Services in St. Augustine, said he emptied the cardboard recycling bin from a gas station into the back of his truck about 3 a.m. Wednesday and the knock came on his windshield while he was driving to his next stop about a block away, The St. Augustine Record reported Monday.

Baker said he was startled by the knocking and slammed on the brakes, causing the man to roll down the windshield.

The driver told St. Johns County sheriff's deputies the man "shook it off" and picked himself up.

"I guess I won't do that again," Baker quoted the man as saying.

Baker said the man wandered off while he was reporting the incident.