Kentucky.com
01-19-07
This guy had an eagle eye
A bald eagle owes its freedom to the sharpshooting skills of an Iowa
conservation officer.
A kayaker spotted the eagle hanging over a cliff about 60 feet above Lake Red
Rock. The bird appeared to have caught a single talon in a knothole in the
branch when it landed. A rescue didn't seem possible, and some people thought
a mercy killing seemed the best option.
Officer Jason Sandholdt said he asked for a chance to free the bird with his rifle,
thinking the bird might fall into the lake, where it could be rescued. There were
doubters. "My buddies were waiting for a poof of feathers," Sandholdt said.
The bullet went cleanly through the edge of the knothole. Sandholdt figures he hit
the talon, too. The eagle flew away and disappeared over the horizon.
Basset is back at the barber shop
About a year after being banned, Franklin the basset hound is back at his spot on
a sofa, greeting customers at Matt's Barber Shop in Canal Fulton, Ohio.
Franklin was as much of a fixture in the shop about 60 miles south of Cleveland
as the 1950s-era, green barber's chair where the doggie sits.
The 4-year-old dog was kicked out about a year ago, when an inspector for the
Ohio State Barber Board told Franklin's owner, Matt Schwendiman, that animals
are not allowed.
After a local newspaper ran a story, rules were passed that allow one animal per
barbershop, as long as it belongs to the shop's owner, a vet certifies it is healthy,
and the owner has liability insurance.
Remapping a strategy for tiny towns
Po Biddy Crossroads will be back on the Georgia map. So will Hopeulikit and
Doctortown.
The 488 communities wiped from this year's version of the state highway map
will be restored, the Georgia Department of Transportation said recently.
The towns were erased from the map after the transportation department
decided it wanted a clearer, more legible version of the map to hand out at
visitors centers and tourism hot spots.
Some small-town officials, however, said erasing places like Cloudland, Poetry
Tulip and Chattoogaville was an insult to rural residents.
I can't believe it's not butter!
The woman who created sculptures of cows out of butter for the Iowa State Fair
for decades has switched materials.
Norma "Duffy" Lyon, 77, has cast a cow in bronze for the Iowa State University
Dairy Farm.
Her life-size metallic cow, Jersey Jewel, took six months to complete.
Lyon earned an animal-science degree from Iowa State in 1951. Her career as a
sculptor began after she took two courses from artist Christian Petersen.
Doug Kenealy, a dairy science professor at Iowa State, says the university
wanted to make a statement at the entrance of its new dairy farm, which will
open this year.
Imagine if she started a trend
Marguerite Drucker really loves New York.
Drucker, 84, who moved out of state several years ago, sent the city a $7,000
cashier's check and an anonymous note: "Dear sir, Please find enclosed check
for the poor of the City of New York. The city has been very good to me."
The letter, sent to the comptroller's office, didn't have a return address, but
Drucker's name was on the check.
Drucker, a former nurse, was married to a pediatrician in the borough of Queens.
Her check, received Nov. 29, will go into the city's general fund, which pays for a
variety of services, including helping the poor.