News That Didn't Make The News

Here are some stories that didn't make the news but make for good small talk around the water cooler....

ABANDONED TV'S

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Got an old TV? Don't shoot it! That's the word from federal wilderness officials. The people at the Bureau of Land Management in Utah's west desert are worried some folks might want to use their old sets for target practice. With the recent switch to all digital television, there are plenty of TVs collecting dust. The BLM warns that electronic devices like TVs, computer monitors and even cell phones potentially toxic elements. If they're not disposed of properly, the devices pose a threat to the environment. Officials say it can cost up to seven-grand to clean-up a shot-up TV set.

CALIFORNIA-COOLER CARS

SACRAMENTO (AP) — Cool cars are coming to California. And no, we're not talking about the new Camero or Mustang. California clean air regulators are ordering that all new cars have sun-reflecting glass. The idea is to keep the rides cooler on hot days. The California Air Resources Board voted unanimously yesterday for the new reg. Sun-reflecting glass will be required on all new cars, pickups and SUVs by 2014.

MARBLES TOURNAMENT

WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — Marbles roll in Whitney Lapic's family. The Pennsylvania 13-year-old wins the girls' division of the National Marbles Tournament. Her mom won the title 36 years ago. Whitney and Debra Stanley-Lapic are now the first mother and daughter to win a national championship. Fourteen-year-old Ricky Brode of Cumberland, Md., takes the boys' crown. Whitney and Ricky win two-grand apiece in scholarship money, at the marbles tourney in Wildwood, N.J.

OPIUM WALLABIES

SYDNEY (AP) — The wallabies are getting whacky. Authorities in the Australian state of Tasmania report wallabies are getting "high as a kite" by snacking on legally grown opium. Tasmania Attorney-General Lara Giddings says the whacked-out wallabies are hopping around in circles, making a mess of the crops. The Mercury newspaper quotes Giddings telling a hearing that the kangaroo-like creatures are a problem for the opium industry. Tasmania supplies about 50 percent of the world's raw material for morphine and related painkillers.

SELF-REPORTED BREAK-IN

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — The CSI team wasn't needed to crack this case. Police in Kalamazoo, Mich., say a man walked into the Department of Public Safety to report he had seen another man breaking into a building. Officers noticed the supposed witness looked drunk and was bleeding from cuts on his arms and hands. Police didn't buy the man's story that he was trying to stop a crime and wrestled with the perp. Police figured their witness was actually their suspect. Local media reports (WWMT-TV, WOOD-TV, Kalamazoo Gazette) the man was busted on a charge of breaking and entering.

HISTORIC CANDY STORE

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It's a sweet bit of history. The Los Angeles City Council has declared the See's Candy Shop and Kitchen No. 1 a historic-cultural monument. That restricts future construction on the site in order to preserve the building. Charles See opened the shop in 1921 with his mother and wife, using his mother's recipes. The black-and-white decor was based on his mom's kitchen. The two-story shop and candy factory was later closed. But See's Candies still operates more than 200 other stores.

by Jamie Friar