UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Man 'wins' 80-day stay at airport

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A Canadian man says he's elated that he won a contest to spend 80 days living at the Vancouver International Airport.

Jaeger Mah was announced the winner of the airport's Live@YVR contest Monday to commemorate the facility's 80th anniversary, the Vancouver Sun reported.

He used social media to campaign for two weeks for the unusual prize of living at Canada's second-largest airport and documenting what goes on behind the scenes, the report said.

However, his experience won't be as arduous as the character played by Tom Hanks in the 2004 movie, "The Terminal," in which an immigrant is forced to live in an airport by red tape.

For Mah, 29, there will be little inconvenience, as the prize includes access to nearly all of the airport and a room at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, along with three meals a day from the facility's more than 400 businesses.

The prize comes with the condition Mah write a blog and produce four 90-second videos each week of behind-the-scenes activities on the www.liveatyvr.ca Web site.

"I just got my security pass so I can get into all the secret places in the airport," Mah told the Sun. "It feels like I won the lottery."

He said he isn't short of story ideas, which include dogging celebrities who pass through the airport, going into Customs areas and finding out what happens to confiscated items and lost luggage.

His stay begins Aug. 17 and runs through Nov. 4.

9-year-old's lost wallet, cash returned

POQUOSON, Va., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The manager of a Virginia 7-Eleven said a 9-year-old's wallet was returned with all its contents, including more than $300, after the boy posted a note.

Marvin Ward, manager of the store on Wythe Creed Road in Poquoson, said the wallet was returned after the boy, identified only as Charlie, posted a note at the store explaining how he accidentally left his wallet near the shop's Slurpee machine with more than $300 inside, The (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press reported Tuesday.

"The wallet's been returned," Ward said Monday. "Some lady turned it in and Charlie got his wallet back. Everything was in there."

"I'm just glad Charlie's got his wallet back," he said.

Charlie's letter was headlined, "How many people would return a lost wallet?" and lists the contents of the wallet, including three gift cards and more than $300.

"I hope whoever has it needed it more than me," the note concluded.

Serbian house allegedly haunted

NOVA PAZAR, Serbia, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The Serbian owner of a purportedly haunted house said the spirit has been there for at least four nights and locals said police are keeping crowds from forming.

Esa Vrujcanin, owner of the Nova Pazar home, said the supernatural being, or "jinn," spent its fourth night at the home Monday and the family is asking people not to gather outside of their home, Tanjug reported Tuesday.

Two police cars have been keeping vigil outside of the home to prevent crowds from forming, locals said.

Some reports from locals indicate Muslim imams have been visiting the home to offer prayers for the jinn to exit the home.

Parrot freed from grill of car

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A parrot that became lodged in the grill of the car that struck it in Florida is recovering at an animal hospital.

Coral Springs firefighters said a woman knocked on the door of Fire Station 43 at about 7:30 a.m. Monday and told firefighters she had hit the bird Sunday and had not realized the Quaker parrot was stuck in the grill of her car until she heard chirping the next morning, WSVN-TV, Miami, reported Tuesday.

"Well, obviously we didn't want to leave it there, so our firefighters were able to unscrew portions of the hood and take some parts out and were able to reach in and grab the bird," Fire Department Capt. Mike Moser said. "It seemed kind of lethargic and not as energetic."

The parrot was taken to the Coral Springs Pet Resort and Medical Center, where veterinarians said he is expected to fully recover.

"We did a physical exam. There was a skin wound near the thigh area, and the bird did not appear to have any broken bones. We took an X-ray just to make sure, and the X-ray looks good," veterinarian Penny Kupferberg said.