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Odds & Ends
By Devin D. O'Leary
MAY 18, 1998:
Dateline: Nepal--Fed-up villagers in the tiny village of
Mankha, some 75 miles northeast of Katmandu, set out to kill 500
monkeys last Saturday. Armed with homemade guns, daggers, spears,
sticks and stones, members of the monkey control committee declared
war on the problematic primates who have been
raiding their crops. Hindus normally revere monkeys as a manifestation
of the god Hanuman, faithful companion of the epic hero Rama.
Still, some 900 Mankha villagers banded together to kill or drive
the monkeys across the nearby Sunkoshi river.
Dateline: Norway--A duty free shop in the Oslo airport
has decided to stop selling whale meat to travelers. The decision
came last Tuesday after repeated criticisms that the shop was
violating Norway's self-imposed ban on whale exports. A spokesman
for the Salmon House, which sold dried whale jerky and whale sausages,
said the sales were due to a "misunderstanding" of Norwegian
export laws. Although Norway does not export whale products, the
country did resume commercial
whaling in 1993 in defiance of a worldwide moratorium on whale
hunting.
Dateline: Florida--A man did not survive a suspected suicide
leap off a Florida bridge last Wednesday, but his dog did. The
coast guard was called in after the Florida Highway Patrol found
an abandoned truck on the Sunshine Skyway bridge. The four-mile
bridge, which links St. Petersburg and Manatee County is the site
of several suicide attempts every year. Police found the body
of a 45-year-old man floating in the water below. A Rottweiler
was also found in the bay by a veterinarian who was fishing nearby.
The dog, whose collar was found in the abandoned truck, survived
the 200-foot drop with minor injuries. It was not clear if the
man forced the dog to jump or if the dog followed his owner off
the bridge.
Dateline: Florida--Russ Rollins, host of the Russ &
Bo Show on Orlando's WTKS radio station, persuaded local stores
and athletes to donate high-priced sneakers for a "Kicks
for Guns" swap. But Rollins wasn't the only one interested
in wheeling and dealing for guns last Wednesday. Shortly after
the gun swap began, local police were alerted that several gang
members had set up shop just down the block and were offering
cash money in exchange for the guns. "They were all over
me," said 14-year-old Shaw, who had brought a .38 caliber
revolver to hand over to police. The enterprising entrepreneurs
offered Shawn upwards of $80 for his gun, but the youth had his
sights set on a new pair of Doc Martens.
Dateline: New York--Proving that there are no longer any
fetishes too weird for public consumption, police in Islip Terrace,
N.Y., have arrested a 28-year-old man for selling videotapes of
women in high heels stomping frogs, mice and assorted small rodents
to death. Adam Gross of the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals said the tapes were a "foot-fetish
type of thing." Thomas Capriola, facing several counts of
animal cruelty, is currently free on $750 bail. An Internet site,
allegedly maintained by Capriola, featured hundreds of videos
such as: "Debby the Destructor," "Vanessa's Frog
Stomp" and "Vanessa, Topless Crusher." Police,
acting on a tip, raided Capriola's home last Saturday, turning
up marijuana, weapons, several white mice and pairs of stiletto-heel
shoes. Police are still trying to identify the women in the videos.
--compiled by Devin D. O'Leary
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