London (AP) – London Bridge may cross The Thames, but it won’t fly as a sport. British players who wanted the card game recognized as a sporting activity lost their latest legal bid on Thursday. The Court of Appeal in London upheld an October 2015 ruling backing Sport England’s refusal to put bridge in the same category as badminton, billiards and ballroom dancing. The English Bridge Union, which has some 55,000 members, had sought the designation. The union argued that not having bridge recognized as a sport meant fewer opportunities for public funding and promotion. It says the game has health benefits. Sport England, which makes public funding decisions, has a policy that sports must involve a “physical activity” component. Its recognized sports include angling, darts, dodgeball, model aircraft flying and ballooning. [One wonders if our former district chief had anything to do with this…]
Wanted part-time in Austria: A hermit
Vienna (AP) – Wanted, part-time: A hermit. Experience not necessary. Municipal and Roman Catholic church officials in the Austrian town of Saalfelden are looking for someone to live in a nearby hermitage built into steep cliffs characteristic of the Salzburg region. But a second job is advisable. The parish website says the position is unpaid. And because it’s unheated and without running water, the hermitage is inhabitable only between April and November. State broadcaster ORF on Thursday cited cleric Alois Moser as saying the search is on for “a person at peace with himself.” Moser says the successful candidate also should have a Christian outlook and be ready to greet visiting pilgrims. The more than 350-year-old building has been uninhabited since a Benedictine monk left in the fall.
Passengers scream as Florida alligator leaps into airboat
Miami (AP) – A Missouri couple vacationing in Florida had a close encounter with an alligator when it leapt into their airboat and became wedged in the boat’s railing. Passengers screamed as 30-year-old Tylor Hindery of Springfield, Missouri, captured the moment in a Facebook live video < https://www.facebook.com/thindery/videos/10102702037741844/ > posted Tuesday. Hindery tells the Miami Herald he talked his wife Emerald into an airboat ride. The guide killed the engine and floated close to the bank so people could photograph the gator. But Hinderey says the boat got stuck. The guide didn’t want to start the engine and scare the gator so he prepared to push off the bank. Just as he warned passengers not to make any sudden movements, the gator jumped into the boat. The gator eventually slid in to the water. No one was hurt.
Jail time for Massachusetts women who bit off officer’s ear
Salem, Mass. (AP) – A Massachusetts woman who bit off a portion of a rookie police officer’s ear during her arrest outside a bar has been sentenced to four years in jail. The Boston Herald reports that 19-year-old Emma Wiley was sentenced after pleading guilty to assault and battery on a police officer and mayhem. The Marblehead woman was also sentenced to three years of probation. Prosecutors say Patrolwoman Jessica Rondinelli responded to reports of a fight outside a Salem bar in August. While Rondinelli was putting Wiley in a cruiser, Wiley bit off a piece of the officer’s ear. Doctors were unable to re-attach it. Rondinelli had been on the force for just a few weeks. Wiley’s lawyer says his client has mental health issues and feels “sincere remorse.”
Driver clocked at 91 mph in snowstorm wanted new car stereo
Concord, N.H. (AP) – New Hampshire State Police say a driver clocked at 91 mph during a snowstorm said she was late for an appointment to have a new car stereo installed. Police say they stopped 21-year-old Anastacia Hocking, of Laconia, on Interstate 93 in Concord on Wednesday morning. The highway was covered with snow and slush. Speed limits in Concord range from 55 to 65 mph on I-93. But state police had reduced speeds to 45 mph because of the storm. Hocking was arrested on a reckless driving charge and is scheduled to be arraigned March 3.
