94-year-old who has been fire chief since 1953 is retiring
A Pennsylvania fire chief is announcing his retirement just ahead of his 95th birthday. J Edward Hutchinson — affectionately known as Hutch — has served more than six decades as Greensburg’s fire chief but has decided not to run for a 22nd term.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports the fire department will now search for another leader for the first time since 1953. Hutchinson says 63 years is “a long friggin’ time” and he now must pass the torch on to someone new. He’s believed to be the longest-serving active chief in the state.
There has been only one interruption in his service to the department: A four-year hiatus when he served during World War II. Hutchinson says he wants to ride off into the sunset on a horse like John Wayne.
(AP)
Man dressed as tree held for blocking traffic
Police say they’ve arrested a man dressed as a tree for blocking traffic in Maine. They say the man didn’t respond to officers when they warned him against obstructing traffic in a busy intersection in downtown Portland. WCSH-TV posted video of the man being arrested after he blocked traffic again. A friend of the man says he was trying to study the city’s traffic patterns. The man appeared to be dressed as a pine tree or other type of evergreen. Portland police hasn’t provided additional details.
(AP)
Woman carries skull on stick
A woman in Sacramento, California, who last week carried a human skull on a stick through the streets has prompted an investigation into the identity of the deceased and the cause of death, police said.
Sacramento Police Department officers last Wednesday responded to the 2900 block of Connie Drive after receiving reports of a woman walking down the street with the skull.
When stopped by police, the woman led them to a nearby abandoned homeless camp where she found the skull. Police soon discovered a decomposed body in the vacant lot, they said. “Detectives have not released the name of the woman who was in possession of the skull and she has not been charged with anything at this time,” the police department said in a statement. “Foul play has not been determined, therefore, we are awaiting the Sacramento County Coroner’s report for further information.” The coroner’s report is expected to be released next week.
(Reuters)
A comfy coffin for overnight stay in Dracula’s castle
No garlic or garlic-scented items allowed, including perfume,” read the house rules of Count Dracula’s castle to ensure that Halloween night guests cannot avoid the vampire. On October 31, two people will be allowed to sleep in velvet trimmed coffins in the seclusion of the count’s crypt and will spend the rest of the night in the Carpathians castle completely alone, says vacation rental marketplace Airbnb.
The company launched a promotional contest via Airbnb last Monday to pick the castle’s first ever overnight guests since Romania’s post-World War II Communist regime expelled the owners, the Habsburg royal family, almost 70 years ago.
In 2006, a democratic Government that replaced the fallen Communists restored the 14th century Bran fortress, known as Dracula’s Castle, to Habsburg descendants. Situated in the wooded foothills of the Carpathian mountains, it is now a museum and major tourist attraction in European Union member Romania. The castle was never part of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, although Romania’s notorious 15th century ruler Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), whose life inspired the book, may have set foot there briefly.
(Reuters)
Chile president forgets to sign name at voting booth
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet had a rocky go of voting in the nation’s local elections last Sunday, having to return to the polls twice after leaving her ID behind and forgetting to sign her name.
Bachelet, voting in the upper-middle class Santiago neighborhood of la Reina, first forgot to grab her national identification card from poll workers after casting her vote.
She retrieved the ID from the voting area and then walked outside to address journalists. However, Bachelet had to return to the booth again to sign a voter registry as required by law, after failing to do so in previous voting attempts. “I missed you all very much,” Bachelet joked to the poll workers.
Bachelet later told reporters the worker in charge of the poll where she voted became nervous and forgot to present her with the registry to sign. The poll worker in question gave the same account.
The episode proved amusing to local media with national newspaper la Tercera saying it was “as unusual as it was embarrassing”.
In Chile’s local elections for mayors and councillors, the right is set to make gains against Bachelet’s centre-left governing coalition, which could provide a boost for the right in next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
However, high abstention rates by Chileans disenchanted by a string of political corruption scandals in the South American nation have made exact predictions difficult.
(Reuters)
