Graveyard plaque of Wild West figure was buried, not stolen
Prescott, Ariz. (AP) – It turns out the graveyard plaque of the common-law wife of legendary gunfighter John Henry “Doc” Holiday was just six inches under, not stolen from a cemetery. The plaque at the Arizona Pioneers’ Home Cemetery in Prescott had been reported stolen recently. But the Prescott Daily Courier reports that a voluntary caretaker found the plaque in mud under a hole at the grave of Mary Katherine Horony-Cummings, also known as Big Nose Kate. Holiday played a central role in the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1881 in what was then the Arizona territory. Pioneers’ Home interim Superintendent Dale Sams says the plaque had sunk into the ground, which had been softened and waterlogged by monsoon rains, and then covered by flowing mud. Volunteer caretaker Denise Meyers says the plaque needs cleaning but is intact. Horony-Cummings died Nov. 2, 1940, at age 89. She was buried under the name “Mary K. Cummings.”
German police arrest wanted man after he tries to vote drunk
Berlin (AP) – A drunk German man who insisted on voting in Sunday’s election despite lacking the necessary documents has landed in jail – after police discovered he was wanted for arrest. The unidentified 46-year-old tried to cast his ballot in the eastern town of Guben, but was turned away by election officials. The inebriated would-be voter caused a scene, prompting officials to call police. German daily Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten reported Monday that officers checked the man’s identity, found that he had a seven-month sentence to serve and promptly arrested him.
Rangers: Woman armed with frying pan helped stop forest fire
Beddington, Maine (AP) – Maine forest rangers say the quick actions of a woman armed with a frying pan helped stop a forest fire. Rangers say Nancy Weeks used a frying pan to carry water back and forth between the flames and a nearby pond in a wooded area near Beddington. WGME-TV reports Weeks kept the fire under control until crews arrived. Officials say the fire was sparked by an unattended camp fire. Rangers say it’s still fire season in the state, and likely will remain so until the first snowfall.
New Alaska highway stripes are crooked, paint staining cars
Ketchikan, Alaska (AP) – New yellow painted highway lines in the Alaska’s Panhandle city of Ketchikan are crooked and the paint that’s been used by state transportation officials has stained cars, officials said. Among those affected was Ketchikan Gateway Borough Mayor David Landis, whose car ended up with yellow paint on it. “You come to expect having highway striping like that to be straight and have orderly looking lines and be professionally applied,” Landis said. “Something was clearly wrong with the equipment or the operation of that equipment to have so many things wrong all at once.” The problems emerged after the state Department of Transportation tried out a new line painting system on the Tongass Highway, The Ketchikan Daily News reported Saturday. Department spokeswoman Meadow Bailey said the paint is “not drying as quickly as it should due to humidity in southeast Alaska.” Bob Sivertson, a Ketchikan city council member, called it the poorest line painting work he’s seen. Bailey said the state will not repaint the yellow lines. She said people with cars that got paint on them should have the vehicles pressure washed. If the car washes don’t work, she recommended spraying WD-40 lubricant on areas stained with yellow paint. The lubricant should be left on cars for up to two hours before washing them. And if that does not work, she said, they should put a “liberal coating of Vaseline” on the car areas stained yellow. It should be left on the cars overnight before getting the vehicles pressure washed, Bailey said.
