Formula One star hates driving (in city)
LONDON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- David Coulthard, one of Europe's most successful Formula One racers, says he hates to drive on normal roadways, the Sun reported Tuesday.
"I don't like driving," said the 33-year-old international racing star. "You are controlled on the open road. On the track you can go as fast as you can. I don't drive much."
Coulthard, who has signed for the Red Bull Racing team next season, drives a tiny Smart car in his spare time and puts on fewer than 2,000 miles a year.
His distaste for normal driving comes after the revelation that German Formula One star Ralf Schumacher cannot even park a car properly. Said his wife Cora: There have been a number of "little accidents."
No insurance for her shaken foundations
CHICAGO, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A 66-year-old Chicago woman whose bathroom is about to fall off has had her foundation shaken by news insurance won't cover it, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The nightmarish sequence of events began last July for Victoria Dreksler when contractors began construction of a building next door to her 110-year-old home she has lived in for 35 years.
The backhoe's digging caused the foundation to shift, causing walls of a first-floor bathroom to crack and begin moving away from the house.
The house was condemned, and lawsuits were filed against the neighbors and their contractor. While temporarily living with her daughter, Dreksler learned her house insurance doesn't cover ground movement, whether caused by a backhoe or earthquake.
It's estimated repair costs to her house exceed $100,000. If she flattened the house, she could get $400,000 for the property, but she says that's not an option, and the house will spend the winter shored up by steel girders.
The first of several lawsuits will be heard in court in May, the newspaper said.
Matchmaking as a wholesale business
NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A New York entrepreneur has created a school to train people interested in becoming professional matchmakers.
The Matchmaking Institute, which bills itself as a "Cupid Academy," seeks to train people to service those U.S singles who are looking for love, ABC reported Tuesday. The network will broadcast a report on the institute during its "20/20" show Tuesday (10 p.m. EST).
The facility was begun six years ago by Lisa Clampitt, when she gave up social work to become a full-time matchmaker for men willing to pay her as much as $20,000 a year to help them find a mate.
Clampitt says matchmaking was so much more fun than social work, she decided to start a school to teach others how to do it.
"We started the Matchmaking Institute really to help people start a career in matchmaking," she said, adding that a secondary purpose is to help singles find a qualified matchmaker.
"What I found before I started this is people have no way to get into the industry. (The course) really trains people how to enter the industry and how to maintain standards."
Public access cable airs nudity at wrong time
AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- An Ohio family expecting a choir singing Christmas carols on Christmas on their local public access station were shocked to see a naked lady instead.
"I turn it to Channel 15 and there's this naked lady on the screen -- I mean full-frontal, get-the-hell-out-of-here pornography," David Umana said.
The cable company's director of government affairs said a church program was scheduled but a technical glitch must have occurred.
However, there is no shortage of sexually explicit shows that air on Channel 15 in the wee hours, in accordance with the cable company's contract with the city of Akron, reported the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal.
The public can submit tapes to fill in the hours not covered by the Akron schools.
When a videotape is submitted the cable company is restricted to ask if it contains profanity or nudity and if it does the tape is scheduled for the overnight hours, said Chris Thomas, the cable company's director of government affairs.
The cable company cannot review the tapes before they air, Thomas said.
