Company removes beeping alarm clock in wall vent since 2004
Ross, Pa. (AP) – A heating contractor has removed a beeping alarm clock that’s been inside a Pennsylvania family’s wall vent for nearly 14 years. Keith Andreen and Dawn Michelucci of Low-Cost Heating and Air Conditioning saw the story on KDKA-TV last month, so they went to the Ross Township home and removed the clock this week. Homeowner Jerry Lynn tells KDKA he tied the battery-operated clock to a string in September 2004 and lowered it inside the wall so the beeping alarm would pinpoint the spot he needed to drill for a TV cable. But the clock fell off the string and has been beeping at 6:50 p.m. or 7:50 p.m. each day, depending on whether it’s Daylight Savings Time. The contractors removed the clock through a garage vent. A corroded battery was still powering the travel clock.
Florida divers, snorkelers submerge for reef music festival
Big Pine Key, Fla. (AP) – A local radio station’s broadcast underwater in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on Saturday attracted about 400 divers and snorkelers who listened to music and announcements advocating reef preservation. The Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival at Looe Key Reef, part of the world’s third-largest living coral barrier reef, featured four hours of music custom-programmed by station WWUS for subsea listening. “We have a captive audience down there,” said Bill Becker, the event’s co-founder and the station’s news director. “We have divers and snorkelers listening to public service announcements about reef preservation, coral reef etiquette and diver awareness. It’s things that they can do to lessen their impact on the coral reef,” he said. The aquatic-focused playlist included the theme from the “The Little Mermaid,” the Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden” and the theme from the iconic shark motion picture “Jaws.” “We just wanted to get their (participants) attention.” Other songs included Jimmy Buffett’s “Fins,” the theme from the television classic “Flipper” and “Atlantis” by Donovan. Participants in the water could hear the commercial-free broadcast via Lubbell Laboratory waterproof speakers strategically hung from boats floating above the reef. Several divers were costumed, including two mermaids and a Sponge Bob cartoon character. Others pretended to play Florida Keys artist August Powers’ sculpted musical instruments. Becker described the underwater listening experience at “ethereal,” saying that the sound was not loud, but very clear and it seemed that music could be “felt through your body and not just through your ears.”
A man of many talents: Vermont governor wins stock car race
Barre, Vt. (AP) – Vermont’s stock-car-racing governor is back in victory lane. Republican Gov. Phil Scott won the 50-lap feature Thursday at Barre’s Thunder Road, taking home a total of $1,200. Scott, a part-time racecar driver, is the all-time winningest driver in the top division at Thunder Road. The win was his 30th and his first since becoming governor in January. He can now add to his list of accomplishments that he is the first sitting governor to win a Vermont stock car race. Scott easily won two preliminary heats Thursday before starting the feature in the pole position at the head of the pack. He led for the entire race. Scott previously served three two-year terms as Vermont’s part-time lieutenant governor.
Groom arrested over New York backyard wedding fireworks
Massapequa, N.Y. (AP) – Guests watching a fireworks display after a New York wedding were cheering the bride, groom and booms when police arrived. The groom ended up under arrest. Nassau County police say they were called to a Massapequa (mass-ah-PEEK’-wah) home early Saturday and found a big party with professional-level pyrotechnics in the backyard. Police say 39-year-old Thomas Giglio explained he was setting them off to celebrate his wedding. He was arraigned Saturday on a fireworks possession charge. Bond was set at $5,000.
