The Odd Truth, May 8, 2003
The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.
Runaway Elephant!
MANILA, Philippines - An elephant escaped from a circus Thursday and ran among pedestrians and motorists on a busy Philippine highway before a truck driver blocked its escape.
The 21-year-old Jumbo, the biggest of 10 elephants from Thailand performing in the "Elephant World" show at the Araneta Center in suburban Quezon city, was about to be showered but became "agitated" because of the summer heat and broke free, said Shige Ijima, a son of the show's promoter.
Two Thai handlers grabbed a steel chain attached to one of its legs as it hesitated when an empty beer truck blocked the road. They then wrapped the chain around a tree.
The handlers fed it bananas before they injected tranquilizers.
Hundreds of residents, many of them children seeing a live elephant for the first time, cheered the impromptu show.
"We don't have money to watch the elephants, but now we can watch all we want. Thank you," Lourdes Cruz said.
More than six hours after escaping, the elephant finally succumbed to the tranquilizers. Workers tied it up to a crane, but the rope came loose and the animal fell on its back, its tusks damaging the rear of a taxi parked nearby. There was no immediate word on whether it was seriously hurt.
Man Reports Stolen Pot
DUBLIN, Ga. - A school bus driver who reported an apparent burglary at his home, also told police someone took his marijuana.
John Randolph, 29, made the call Monday, according to a Dublin police department report. When officers arrived, Randolph said a thief took four "dime bags" of marijuana, along with a .22-caliber pistol, a gold necklace and $30 in change.
The bus driver repeated what he said and then showed Officer Michael Milton a small box on a bedroom dresser where he said he kept the marijuana.
Randolph told the officer he was "saving the marijuana to smoke when school was out," according to the police report.
Dublin police Capt. Zeke Hobbs said Randolph was not charged with a crime. No one was arrested in the burglary.
Dublin schools operations director Sam Barrs, who oversees the bus system, said Wednesday he was investigating the incident.
Detective Sgt. Tommy Cobb, who also went to Randolph's home, said it was the first time he ever heard of anyone reporting a marijuana theft.
"I asked him, 'Why are you telling us you had marijuana?' " Cobb said. "He said he was always told to tell the truth."
Randolph declined to comment.
Robbers Blind Victim With Curry Powder
SINGAPORE - It was a recipe for larceny.
Two thieves in Singapore wielding just a handful of curry powder robbed a businessman of $5,734 in payroll money, police said Thursday.
"It appears that the curry powder was used to temporarily blind the victim so (the thieves) could make a good escape," said police spokesman Chua Chee Wai.
Bus tour operator Anil Singh, 34, withdrew the cash to pay his staff on Tuesday. He was leaving his vehicle when he heard someone shouting his name and turned to see who it was, Chua said.
Singh then had curry powder thrown in his face and his envelope snatched away from him, Chua said, adding that the two men remain at large.
The fiery spice has been used by robbers in the city-state before, but the last such incident was "quite some time back," said Chua.
Adidas Sued Over Kangaroo Leather
SAN FRANCISCO - An animal rights group sued sports company Adidas in state court here Wednesday, alleging that some of the company's soccer cleats sold in California are made of Australian kangaroo.
Under a 1971 California law, a host of animals or their parts are barred from commercial sale in the state, the suit says. That law, found in the criminal code, includes elephant, crocodile, sable antelope, jaguar, cheetah and polar bear. California is the only state criminalizing the sale of kangaroo parts for commercial purposes.
"By using kangaroo leather for commercial purposes, Adidas is saying that it doesn't care about animals or about the law," said David Blatte, an attorney representing Viva! International Voice for Animals, whose United States headquarters is in Davis.
Adidas did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the suit, which seeks to bar the company from selling the cleats in California.
The suit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, alleges that Adidas, based in Portland, Ore., uses kangaroo leather in its Predator cleats model and others sold in California. The Adidas web site describes the Predator cleats as being made from kangaroo leather in its product description.
Take My House, Away
PITTSBURGH - A 200-year-old historic estate made almost entirely of hand-cut stone is up for sale for as little as $100,000. The catch? The land it sits on isn't included.
The new owner of the Isaac Meason House, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, must remove each door, window and piece of woodwork, dismantle every stone and move the building to a new location.
The current owners, Terry and Diane Kriss, acknowledge it's unusual to sell a home and not its land. They know it's even more unusual for one of fewer than 2,500 National Historic Landmarks in the country to be up for auction on the Internet auction site eBay.
The problem, according to the Krisses, is that encroaching residential, commercial and industrial development is depreciating the site's value. Years of fighting Fayette County planning officials have left the couple with legal bills.
The house was designed by English architect Adam Wilson for Isaac Mason, a colonel in the Revolutionary War. It's considered a sophisticated example of English Palladian architecture.
Nude Models To Wear Union Label
PHILADELPHIA - The models may not be wearing much — but they soon could be wearing the union label.
Nude models at a Philadelphia art school have voted to join a union. The models at the Moore College of Art and Design complain about low pay and poor working conditions.
Organizer Claire Hankins says the models have to pose in cold, dusty classrooms. She says it's hard work, because the models often have to stay in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time.
Hankins has been a model for nearly 20 years.
Utah Supreme Court: Cats And Dogs Are Not The Same
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah's highest court says cats are not the same as dogs.
Specifically, the state's Supreme Court has ruled that cat owners can't be held to the same standard of liability as dog owners.
The case started when a woman sued her former neighbors after their cat bit her hand. Her attorney says the owners should have been held responsible — and they would have been, if they'd owned a dog.
But as he says, it turns out "a cat is not a dog."
The judge who wrote for the court says the plaintiff had argued that any contact between a cat and a human being is "fraught with danger." But as the judge sees it, reaching out to a cat doesn't present the same kind of foreseeable harm that would exist in the case of a strange dog.
The American Flag, Now With More Stars!
GLASSPORT, Pa. - Borough officials here learned just how behind the times they were when they noticed that their American flag was missing two stars.
At 48 stars, Glassport's Old Glory was a little too old for council members' liking.
While no one knows how long the old flag had been draped around a flag stand in the council chambers, it's a good bet it has been at least 44 years.
The 48-star flag — which dates back to 1912 — was replaced with the 49-star flag in 1959, with the addition of Alaska to the United States. A year later, the 50-star flag became official following the addition of Hawaii.
It was only a month or so ago, however, that council members in the borough of about 5,000 people outside Pittsburgh were looking around their chambers, wondering how they could spruce it up.
Councilman James Foster pulled out the flag. "I immediately said, 'Hey, this is a few stars short,"' Foster said.
Because the flag was draped around a pole, the stars weren't readily visible.
U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle has donated a new flag for the council chambers — this one, with all 50 stars.