91-year-old Thai woman earns
bachelor’s degree
Bangkok (AP) – A 91-year old woman in Thailand has earned a college degree after spending more than 10 years studying for it. Public television broadcaster Thai PBS says Kimlan Jinakul was granted the Bachelor of Arts degree in human and family development Wednesday at the government-run Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University just outside Bangkok. “If we do not study, do not read, do not know, then we won’t be able to speak and make sense,” she said. Her diploma was handed to her by HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun. Diplomas at Thailand’s public universities are traditionally handed out by members of the royal family. “I am happy and honored that the king has graciously shown such limitless mercy,” Kimlan said, using a phrase meant to show utmost respect to Thai royalty. Kimlan traveled with her family from their home in Phayao province, 725 kilometers (450 miles) north of Bangkok, to attend the graduation ceremony. “Sometimes she felt weary because of her body,” Kimlan’s son, Mongkol Jinakul, told Thai PBS. “But we as her children tried to cheer her on and mom studied until the end and it was a success.” The Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, which has courses catering for the elderly, this year had 199 students who are over 60 years old. It offers part-time and remote learning. “For the elderly, we focus on practicality rather than the academic aspect,” Professor Panumas Kadngaongam, acting dean of the university, said. “So the subject can be studied and put to use immediately.”
Near tragedy in Poland when
car crosses tracks before train
Warsaw, Poland (AP) – The driver of a Volkswagen and three passengers barely escaped tragedy after their car plowed through a railroad crossing barrier in Poland as a high-speed train approached. The train hit the back of the car just as it managed to cross the tracks, but nobody inside was injured. The incident occurred late Monday evening in Koszalin, northern Poland, and was captured on video by the Polish state railway company, PKP. The footage shows the barriers coming down and seconds later the car approaching, the driver apparently unaware of its presence and driving straight through it. Police said the driver was a 48-year-old local woman who was slapped with a fine of 500 zlotys ($140).
It’s not delivery. It’s DiGiorno Pizza … spilled on I-30
Little Rock, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas highway officials shut down westbound lanes of a cross-country interstate for four hours so crews could pick up pizza. An 18-wheeler containing DiGiorno and Tombstone frozen pizzas scraped a bridge support and sliced open its trailer Wednesday, spilling the pies across Interstate 30 in front of the Arkansas Department of Transportation office just south of Little Rock. Agency spokesman Danny Straessle said the bridge suffered only cosmetic damage. He says “there were some people shaken up” but that no one was hurt. The westbound section of I-30 was closed for four hours and was closed eastbound for an hour too while crews cleared away the mess. Straessle says the pizza sauce, the cheese and pepperoni, plus some spilled diesel left a “slippery spot.”
Roadside egg poacher caught
on tape and cops are on the hunt
Hereford Township, Pa. (AP) – Authorities are trying to crack the case of an egg thief who’s been stealing from a roadside stand in rural Pennsylvania. Stand-owner Denise Timer said Wednesday that she set up a security camera after about 100 eggs and small amounts of cash were stolen from her Hereford Township property over the last month and a half. Police have linked the thefts to a man who was caught on camera rummaging through the egg cooler the same day that a dozen eggs and $6 in change were taken. Timer says she now only puts out a dozen eggs at a time, but they were also recently stolen. The suspect is believed to drive a white van and has a tattoo of what looks like a bull’s head on his right forearm.
