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School auctions basketball court floor

BOULDER, Colo., June 5 (UPI) -- The University of Colorado-Boulder is auctioning off the portable floor of the basketball court with a starting price of $5,000.

The university, which is selling the Robbins "All-Star Plus" maple basketball floor on auction site HigherEdSurplus.com, said the 60-foot by 112-foot floor is in fair-to-good shape and has been sanded and stripped down once since being purchased in 1996, KMGH-TV, Denver, reported Monday.

The auction stipulates the winner must "remove, load and transport the flooring" and it is being sold "AS IS WHERE IS with NO warranty or refunds."

The auction, which started Friday and ends June 15, had no bidders as of Monday afternoon.

Titanic locket's owner may have been maid

HEMPFIELD, Pa., June 5 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania family who obtained a locket believed to have belonged to a Titanic survivor said they may have identified the original owner.

Betty and Buz Carbone of Hempfield said their son bought the locket, which bears the letters "AMA" or "AWA" in intricate script, from an antiques dealer about 15 years ago and they now believe the item originally belonged to Annie Moore Ward of Philadelphia, who served as a maid for a first-class passenger on the Titanic in April 1912 and survived the sinking of the ship, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Monday.

Ward, who was 38 at the time of the passenger liner's sinking, died in 1955.

The Carbones' daughter, Beth Evangeliste of Jeannette, said Ward is "the only one that came close" to fitting the initials on the locket, which contained a slip of paper reading, "Wreck of the Titanic, April 15th, 1912. Loss of life 1645."

The Carbones, who have an extensive collection of Titanic memorabilia, said the number on the slip of paper is incorrect, as the official death count from the sinking was 1,514.

Beth Evangeliste said she plans to continue her research into the locket's origins.

"I'm 90 percent sure," she said of the identity of the locket's original owner, "but I want to be 100 percent sure."

Woman wins contest by downing 12 hot dogs

CALGARY, Alberta, June 5 (UPI) -- A Canadian woman won a national eating championship near Calgary, Alberta, by downing 12 hot dogs in 10 minutes and is now headed to New York.

Nicole Anderson of Calgary took the top spot at the Canadian Women's Championship Saturday at the CrossIron Mills mall, just north of Calgary, and will now compete July 4 at the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest finals at New York's Coney Island, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.

Anderson, who said her secret was taking the time to put ketchup on her franks, will be joined by Calgary men's competition winner Aaron Osthoff of Iowa, who downed 33 hot dogs in 10 minutes, and the second-place men's finisher, University of Alberta grad student Lee Vilinksy, who ate 16 dogs in the same time period.

The competitors will shoot for the top spot at the international competition and have the chance to aim for the world record of 68 hot dogs, set by competitive eating superstar Joey Chestnut.

Los Angeles man breaks Ferris wheel record

LOS ANGELES, June 5 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles man set a Guinness World Record for longest ride on a Ferris wheel by staying onboard for 25 consecutive hours.

Gus Martinez, a detective who has been with the Los Angeles Police Department since 1994, climbed aboard the 130-foot-tall Pacific Wheel at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica pier at 7:30 a.m. Thursday and stayed on until 8:30 a.m. Friday, defeating the previous record of 24 hours, 30 minutes, which was set last year in Ireland, KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, reported Monday.

Martinez said his record raised funds and awareness for the Special Olympics of Southern California. He said his son, James, who has Down's syndrome, has won more than 30 gold medals in the competition's swimming events.

Martinez was not allowed to sleep during his 25-hour ride and he was allowed 5-minute bathroom breaks each hour.