UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

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Man buys oyster for breakfast, finds pearl

NEWQUAY, England, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A British man who bought a pair of fresh oysters to treat his hangover said he discovered a pearl inside one of the mollusks.

James Humphries, 34, of Newquay, England, said he bought the oysters -- which he described as "the perfect hangover cure" -- from E Rawle & Co. fishmongers Saturday morning after a night of drinking, and discovered a pearl while eating his breakfast, The Mirror reported Tuesday.

I thought a filling had fallen out. It was only when I spat it out that I discovered it was a pearl," he said. "It's small, but perfectly formed and I absolutely love it."

Paul Cox of the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth said Humphries' discovery was a rare find.

"It's extremely rare for pearls to occur naturally in the wild," he said. "Most of the pearls you see are cultivated or come from pearl oysters. I've never come across anyone who has found a wild pearl before. It's extremely unusual and he's a very lucky man."

Heather Bell of Little Gem jewelers in Newquay said it is difficult to put a price on the pearl.

City has required gun ownership since 1982

KENNESAW, Ga., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Authorities in a Georgia town with a law requiring residents to own guns said the 1982 law was never meant as an enforceable measure.

WUSA-TV, Washington, which said it found support for the law from all residents it spoke to in Kennesaw, quoted police as saying the 1982 law requiring gun and ammunition ownership was a symbolic gesture responding to a 1981 gun ban in Morton Grove, Ill., which was later declared unconstitutional.

"It was not meant to be an enforceable law. The police department has never searched homes to make sure you had a gun. It was meant more or less as a political statement to support citizens' second amendment rights to own firearms," Kennesaw police Lt. Craig Graydon said.

"We don't have shoot-outs. It's not a Wild West," Graydon said.

City officials said the crime rate dropped 29 percent after the law was passed in 1982 and has remained low, with just four gun-related homicides in the past 30 years.

Winds cover house with tumbleweeds

MIDLAND, Texas, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A Texas man said one of the more unusual consequences of this week's windstorms was his house being covered in tumbleweeds.

Josh Pitman of Midland said Monday's winds caused the tumbleweeds to first gather on the left side of his home and they soon spread to his roof and wrapped around the house, KBMT-TV, Beaumont, reported Tuesday.

"I didn't even know this many tumbleweeds existed," Pitman said.

Pitman said he spent most of an afternoon clearing the tumbleweeds from one side of his house and putting them in a ditch behind his home.

"I called the fire department and they said that since it was on my yard, it was considered yard waste and that I had to take care of it, they or the city wouldn't be able to do anything. So I figured, I got to do what I got to do," Pitman said.

Pitman said he expects the cleanup to take until the end of the week.

Bald eagle back at zoo after 3 days

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Officials with a California zoo said a tame bald eagle returned to her trainer's arm after three days on the loose.

John Aikin, executive director of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, said the 24-year-old bird, named Sequoia, appeared to become upset by strong winds during her daily exercise Saturday at Byxbee Park and she roosted in Menlo Park instead of returning to her handlers, the Palo Alto Daily News reported Tuesday.

Officials said the bird was seen Monday in the Friendly Acres neighborhood of Redwood City and returned to the arm of trainer John Flynn around nightfall.

"It's like having a kid," Aikin said Monday. "You know your kid is probably going to make the right choices, but you still can't help but worry a little bit."

"This is not to be unexpected," the trainer said of Sequoia's time on the loose. "It's not the first time it's happened. And I don't think it's the last."