UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Chicago sticker nixed over gang perception

CHICAGO, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Chicago officials said they have yanked a 15-year-old's design for a city parking sticker due to the "perception" it may incorporate gang signs.

Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza said Wednesday she was replacing the design for the sticker, which is scheduled to be released in the coming days, after some critics raised concerns the outstretched hands included in the picture could represent a gang sign, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

"For me, as the clerk, it's not an issue of the individual at all, frankly," Mendoza said. "It's an issue of the perception that's now out in the city of Chicago and, frankly, nationally, that we have a city sticker that some experts believe may provide symbolism related to gangs."

Herbie Pulgar, the Lawrence Hall Youth Services student who designed the sticker, and his mother denied the sticker contained symbolism associated with the street gang the Manic Latin Disciples.

"Now other gang members think that I'm a gang member and my life is in jeopardy," the teenager said.

His mother called the allegations "mean and cruel" and described critics of the design as "haters."

Man brought pot to detention center

JOLIET, Ill., Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Authorities in Illinois said a 19-year-old visitor to a juvenile detention center was arrested when he pulled pot out of his pockets during security screening.

Will County sheriff's deputies said Devante Saxton, 19, emptied his pockets at the security checkpoint at the River Valley Juvenile Detention Center around 11:30 a.m. last Thursday and "removed five bags of cannabis from his jacket and placed them in a bin to be scanned by the metal detector," The (Joliet) Herald-News reported Thursday.

A deputy was called to the center and arrested Saxton on a marijuana possession charge. He was released after posting $100 bond.

15 1/2 pound baby born in China

XINXIANG CITY, China, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A set of parents in China said they expected a large baby, but they were shocked when their son came out weighing a potentially record-setting 15 1/2 pounds.

Han Jingang and Wang Yujuan said they were expecting a large baby, but they were surprised when baby Chun Chun was born Saturday in Xinxiang City weighing a staggering 15 1/2 pounds, a number state-run China Daily said is half a pound heavier than the three China record-holding 15-pounders born between 2008 and 2010, New Tang Dynasty Television reported Thursday.

"My wife was no different from other pregnant women. She ate and drank normally as she should. But she's given birth to such a big, fat son. Today is the first day of spring in the Chinese calendar and he's a 'dragon baby.' I feel very happy," Han Jingang said.

Wang Yujuan said she knew the baby would be large.

"I clearly felt that my body was more clumsy than when I had been pregnant with my daughter. My belly was bigger than it was then. I guessed the baby would be between 10 and 11 pounds. I never expected to hear that he weighs 15 1/2," she said.

Guinness World Records said the heaviest baby ever born weighed nearly 24 pounds when it was born in Ohio in 1879, but it died hours later.

Ugliest rat found in NYC subway

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A New York City subway passenger won a free monthly MetroCard Thursday for taking a picture of the subway's ugliest rat, officials said.

Michael Spivack's photo of a brown-haired, boil-covered rat won the Transport Workers Union's contest to find the ugliest subway rat, the New York Post reported.

Spivack said he encountered the rat at 3 a.m. at the Seventh Avenue station in Manhattan.

"It was so disgusting, I just thought I had to get a picture of it," he said. "I showed it to my co-worker and she ran out of the room, it was so ugly.''

The TWU asked subway passengers to send in photographs of the ugliest rats they ran into as part of its "Rat Free Subways" campaign, a drive to bring awareness to rodent infestation in NYC subways.

Spivack said he is thankful to the rat for helping him win the free subway pass. "If he could understand me, I'd say good luck in your rat life," Spivack said.