(AP, 7/24/08, Hero!)
JUDGE: GIRL’S NAME, ‘TALULA DOES THE HULA’ WON’T DO
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.
Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.
Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.
The new name was not made public to protect the girl’s privacy.
“The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgement which this child’s parents have shown in choosing this name,” he wrote. “It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily.”
The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had nver told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her “K” instead, the girl’s lawyer, Colleen MacLeod told the court.
In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.
Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish And Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy, and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter, “and tragically, “Violence,” he said.
New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths, and Marriages.
Clarke said officials usually tlaked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarassment.
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(Reuters, 7/24/08, Zero!)
UNDERWEAR CHICKEN DARE PUTS MAN IN HOSPITAL
SYDNEY, Australia – An Australian man’s dare went horribly wrong when he tried to play chicken with cars on a freeway wearing only his underwear. The 18 year old was critically injured after being hit by a four-wheel drive on a freeway in the southern city of Melbourne in the early hours of Wednesday, police said in a statement.
“Police are dismayed at the utter stupidity of a man who decided to play chicken on the Tullamarine Freeway,” the statement said.
“It was lucky nobody was killed as a result and police couldn’t believe anybody would be foolish enough to take such grave risks with their personal safety and that of other road users.” The driver and passenger in the car were unhurt, though the vehicle was a write-off.
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(Reuters, 7/22/08, Hero!)
NOT EVERYONE CAN MEET OUR NUDIST STANDARDS
PARIS, France – France’s data protection authority has given permission for a nudist resort to keep a “black lsit” of guests barred from its facilities, the organization said.
The Rene Oltra nudist center in southern France was obliged to seek permission after a person complained of being denied a reservation, the authority said on its website.
French law requires organizations to seek authorization to keep lists of individuals denied use of their services.
Contacted by Reuters, the resort declined to give further details regarding individual’s exclusion from its site.
The center’s rules require guests to abide by its “naturist ethic” of nudity at all times, weather permitting, and bans upsetting other guests or failing to observe hygiene standards.
“But nudity is not exhibitionism. Any indecent behavior will be sanctioned by immediate exclusion,” the rules say.
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(AP, 7/22/08, Zero!)
NY MAN EARNING $100K LIVED IN COMPANY PAINT SHED
NEW YORK, NY – A new York state report says a maintenance man who earned $100,000 last year working at a psychiatric center has been living for free in a paint shed on company grounds and even had his mail delivered there.
A report issued Monday by the inspector general’s office says the worker lived on the grounds of the Rockland Psychiatric Center in New York City’s northern suburbs for three years. it says he stayed in a back room of the shed and had a couch, a microwave and refrigerator.
The center’s executive director told inspectors he didn’t know the worker was living in the shed.
The worker is being charged $2,500 for the time he lived there. Now he’s living with his wife a a home in Pearl River, about 3 miles away.
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(AP, 7/22/08, Hero!)
TEACHER LASTS 20 HOURS ON RIDE TO WIN CHALLENGE
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – An Oakdale high school teacher lasted 20 hours on an amusement park ride at the Mall of America to win the Ride the Tide Challence at Nickelodeon Universe. Jim Salava, 40, was declared the winner when his final opponent stepped down on Tuesday.
Salava was among 10 riders who boarded the Avatar Airbender at 6:30 a.m. Monday. The pool dwindled to three riders just three hours into the competition. Cynthis Brooks of Coon Rapids was eliminated at aobut 10:30 p.m. Monday, and two hours after the ride shut down for the night, T.J. Ness of Blaine surrendered to Salava.
The Avatar Airbender averages 43 mph, rocks back and forth to reach heights of 70 feet, and gives riders a 4G-Force experience. Other than bathroom and mean breaks, contestants remained on the ride at all times–even to sleep.
The top prize includes a family cruise, $1000 spending cash, and a lifetime pass to Nickelodeon Universe.
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AP, 7/22/08, ZERO!)
R.I. POLICE SAY MAN HAD .491 BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL
NORTH PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island – State Police arrested a man early Tuesday whose blood alcohol level allegedly was .491 — more than six times the legal limit–which they believe is the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn’t dead.
Stanley Kobierowski, 34, of North Providence, was arrested after he drove into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Providence, Maj. Steven O’Donnell said.
After police arrive, Kobierowski had trouble getting out of the car, then grabbed it and refused to move, forcing troopers to carry him to the breakdown lane before taking him bakc to their barracks, O’Donnell said.
A Breahalyzer test showed Kobierowski had blook alcohol readings of .489 followed by .491, O’Donnell said, the highest readings anyone at the State Police or the Department of Health culd remember for someone who didn’t end up dead.
The legal limit in Rhode Island is .08 A blood alcohol of .3 is classified as “stupor”, .4 is “comatose” and .5 is considered “fatal,” according to the health department.
“Our only assumption could be that the person has a serious alcohol problem,” O’Donnell said. “The person’s lucky they survived. There’s no doubt he would have gotten killed or killed someone if he had continued on the route he was taking.”
Kobierowski was taken to Rhode Island Hospital where he was put in the detoxification unit and sedated, O’Donnell said. He was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on charges of driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest.
He was released after promising to appear at a hearing Friday in district court.
Kobierowski did not have an attorney at his arraignment, police said. A phone listing for him could not be found.
