[Fivetide]

Couple finds wooden boat launched by class 27 years earlier



A couple who found a small wooden boat on a Wisconsin beach discovered the tiny vessel had been placed in the water 27 years earlier by a second-grade class.

Lynn and Mike BeBeau said they visited a remote beach in Lake Superior's Apostle Islands and noticed something brightly colored buried in the sand about 20 feet from shore.

"I thought it might have been a net buoy or a net float that had broken loose from a commercial fisherman's boat or something but when I dug it out and then kind of washed it off, I was really surprised and I thought 'this is really cool,'" Mike BeBeau told KBJR-TV.

The object, a small wooden boat, had a message printed on the bottom: "I am traveling to the ocean. Please put me back in the water."

The boat also bore the address of Lakewood Elementary school in Duluth, Minn.

The couple contacted the school and learned the boat had been placed in the water by Bonnie Fritch and Brenda Schell's second-grade class in 1993.

"Brenda had a friend that made the boats and we had our class paint them, and at the end of the year we would take a trip around Duluth to go to Enger Tower and all that and we went to Brighton Beach to let the boats go with our class," Fritch said.

Fritch said she had been contacted one other time in the past by someone who found the boat a few years earlier.

"It was somewhere up on the Northshore, like Beaver Bay, and the people who found it put another coating on it to help preserve it and set it back in the water," Fritch said.

The BeBeaus said they placed the boat back into the water to continue its journey.

"We like to just find remote places and just see what we discover and this was by far the coolest discovery by far," Lynn BeBeau said.

See video here:
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/10/12 ... 602525636/

[hija]

Help for the bees



Bees and other insects are vital to our food chain, as they pollinate three-quarters of all crops. But their numbers have plummeted in recent years, and this has been partly blamed on pesticides.

Five years ago, the EU banned the use of neonicotinoids, a widely used group of insecticides, on flowering crops that attract bees. And from the end of this year their use will now be banned completely, following an investigation that found the chemicals contaminate soil and water, and can then appear in wild flowers and succeeding crops.

“Banning these toxic pesticides is a beacon of hope for bees,” says Antonia Staats of campaign group Avaaz. “Finally governments are listening to their citizens, to the scientific evidence and to farmers.”

[Governor3]

Tourist returns stolen artifacts from Pompeii 'after suffering curse'



A tourist who pilfered fragments from the ancient city of Pompeii 15 years ago has returned the artefacts, claiming they were “cursed”.

The Canadian woman, identified only as Nicole, sent a package containing two mosaic tiles, parts of an amphora and a piece of ceramics to a travel agent in Pompeii, in southern Italy, alongside a letter of confession.

Nicole, who was in her early 20s when she visited Pompeii’s archaeological park in 2005, blamed the theft for a run of misfortune that she had suffered in the years since, including having breast cancer twice and experiencing financial hardship.

“Please, take them back, they bring bad luck,” she wrote.

At the time of the theft, she said she wanted to have a piece of history that “nobody could have” but that the relics had “so much negative energy … linked to that land of destruction”.

Pompeii was buried in volcanic ash after the catastrophic eruption of the Mount Vesuvius in AD79 and lay buried until the 16th century, when its rediscovery transformed the understanding of life in the classical world.

The ancient site is one of Italy’s most visited attractions and for years has had to deal with the problem of tourists stealing from it.

Nicole wrote in her letter that she had learned her lesson and wanted “forgiveness from God”.

“I am now 36 and had breast cancer twice,” she said. “The last time ending in a double mastectomy. My family and I also had financial problems. We’re good people and I don’t want to pass this curse on to my family or children.”

Nicole is not the only one to repent. The package contained another confessional letter from a couple, also from Canada, along with some stones stolen from the site in 2005.

“We took them without thinking of the pain and suffering these poor souls experienced during the eruption of Vesuvius and their terrible death,” they wrote. “We are sorry, please forgive us for making this terrible choice. May their souls rest in peace.”

Over the years, so many stolen relics have been returned to the site, along with letters expressing guilt, that park officials established a museum displaying the artefacts.

Most of the time, tourists want to keep the relics as souvenirs, but some thieves have also tried to sell pieces of Pompeii online. In 2015, a brick taken from the ruins in 1958 was put up for sale on eBay.

Florida man arrested for drunkenly chasing woman off his property with machete



BIG PINE KEY, Fla. (CBS 12) — A 48-year-old man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after chasing a woman off his property with a machete, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies say Michael Tucker recently broke up with his girlfriend, who had been staying with him at his house. Tucker told deputies they were arguing when a friend of his ex-girlfriend came over. Tucker admitted to chasing the woman off his property with a machete.

The sheriff's office said Tucker also admitted to drinking prior to the events unfolding.

No one was injured, deputies said. Tucker was taken to jail and is being charged with aggravated assault.

[HogwartsExpress]

Book returned to library nearly 60 years overdue




Employees at a library in Britain said a poetry book was recently dropped into the return box 60 years after its due date.

The Middlesbrough Central Library said "The Buried Stream," a poetry anthology by Geoffrey Faber, was returned to the facility's drop box this month.

Officials said the tome was 58 years overdue, with a listed due date of December 1962.

"We're really grateful to the anonymous person who returned this book to us as it will be added back to our stock and placed in the Reference Library for future generations to enjoy," Librarian and Community Hub Officer David Harrington said.

Harrington said the book would have accrued more than $650 in late fees, but fines are suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We'd also urge any of our customers -- past and present -- to return any overdue library books they might have, with the assurance that we're not currently charging fines," he said.

Source: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/10/12 ... 602531997/

[angellove0810]

From south China to Tibet, Chinese father bikes 2,500 miles in 71 days with 4-year-old daughter


Tou Haobei and his daughter during the trip

Riding 2,500 miles, from southern China's Guangdong Province to southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region, a father and daughter pair finished a special birthday experience together.

Tou Haobei and his four-year-old daughter Doudou started the trip in April, when the father decided they needed to spend some time together after she had been out of kindergarten for months due to the pandemic. Tou had already done the trip many times before, but never with his daughter in tow, who followed along in a specially designed trailer attached to his bike.

Tou recorded the trip and posted it on TikTok over the past three months, which earned him over 14 million likes and 1.7 million followers. He called the trip a gift in "strength and persistence," for his daughter.


Tou has been sharing the trip videos on TikTok. /TikTok screenshot

"Since our stories have been circulating over the internet, many generous people gave us food and supplies when they met us on the road," Tou said. "And there were drivers who lit up the road behind us at night, which meant a lot to us.”

One of their scariest experiences was when they were trapped in the mountains and were too tired to continue biking. However, villagers offered them a place to rest. To express their gratitude, Doudou bought supplies and gave them to children in the remote Tibetan villages.

"I believe this is a promise to my daughter. She will have faith in persistence and strong mindset," said Tou. "Human beings can achieve goals as long as they are determined."

The story of Doudou and her father has inspired many over the internet. "Childhood is short so the company from parents is priceless," said @Toupiaoxiang on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform.

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
TUESDAY OCTOBER 13th
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You may post One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can enter only once a day
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them to under a minute, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[goldie0608]

New Study Reveals a Dog’s Heart Rate Increases When Their Owner Simply Says ‘I Love You’



Is there a more joyful, innocent, exuberant feeling in the world than puppy love? It’s an emotion that has no strings or reservations, and since a dog’s love is most often unconditional, it’s aptly named as well.

When a dog licks your face, jumps into your lap, or barks like a banshee when you come through the front door, it simply means they’re crazy about you.

But did you know that your dog’s heartbeat actually soars when you tell them, “I love you?”

Well, according to a recent study conducted by the folks at Canine Cottages, that well may be the case.

After equipping a quartet of test pups with heart rate monitors, the dogs were guided through a series of scenarios over the course of seven days to see how they’d react to a variety of stimuli.

The tracking data revealed the four dogs averaged a resting heart rate of 67 beats per minute.

When owners said, “I love you” to their pets, the doggos’ heart rates shot to 98 beats per minute—a 46.2% increase.

While your dog perks up to the tune of a 10.4% heart-rate jump just for setting eyes on you, some activities actually had a calming effect on the pooches.

Quality couch time cuddling resulted in a 22.7% decrease in canine heart rates.

While it’s certainly not the most scientifically exhaustive study ever conducted and the conclusions drawn are possibly a bit shaggy, who are we to argue about the bond between “hoomans” and their hounds? Love is, after all, a four-legged word, isn’t it?

[HogwartsExpress]

Rare two-headed snake slithers into woman's house




A woman who found a rare two-headed snake in her sunroom has found the reptile a new home.

Jeannie Wilson, from Alexander County, North Carolina, was stunned when it slithered into view while she was cleaning.

She said: "I saw something in the corner of my eye, and I said, 'lord, that's a snake!'

"The first thing I thought was, 'Oh gosh, something has stepped on you and mashed your head.'"

However, she soon realised it had two heads and nicknamed it "Double Trouble". The species is yet to be officially identified, but is believed to be a baby rat snake.

She turned to Facebook for help on whether it should be set free or handed over to someone.

Ms Wilson decided to take the snake to the Catawba Science Centre in Hickory, about 30 miles away.

She told local station WSOC-TV: "I went to the science centre and told them what I had, they said 'we would love to have it'.

"They told me it was around four months old and was a rat snake and was fixing to shed."

She described the snake as "very gentle to handle" and said it never tried to bite her.

However, a few days later, Ms Wilson received a message from a snake wrangler who said he wanted to buy it for his son.

She said "it just felt right", so retrieved the reptile from the science centre to give to the new owner.

Two-headed snakes form in a similar way to conjoined twins - a developing embryo begins to split into identical twins but stops midway.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/rare-two-hea ... e-12103071

[Fatima99]

It's been a great year for wild koalas in the You Yangs, Australia



Following the devastating bushfires that swept through Australia in early 2020, it feels miraculous to hear about a region that escaped the brunt of the blaze.

You Yangs mountain range in Victoria, and its population of wild koalas, have remained undisturbed. As such, there's been plenty of time for a few new wild koala joeys to be born.

Tour operator Echidna Walkabout keeps a close eye on the population in the region, and reports that six joeys have been born - all of whom are around three months old, still tucked inside their mothers' pouches. There are two more on the way, too.

Keeping records since 2006, Echidna Walkabout tell us that 2020 has the best year yet for koala births. Such welcome news!

[PennySerenade]

Daylight saving time could become permanent in Ontario



TORONTO -- Ontario could put an end to bi-annual clock changes and permanently adapt daylight saving time if a new private member's bill, which the government supports, passes.

On Wednesday, Ottawa West – Nepean MPP Jeremy Roberts tabled The Time Amendment Act, which would "clear the road for Ontario to end the bi-annual process of changing our clocks" and implement permanent daylight saving time.

The bill has already passed the second reading in legislature at Queen's Park.

If this bill passes, it means it would remain lighter for longer in the evening throughout the entire year.

According to Roberts, the change would only come into effect if the state of New York and province of Quebec also follow suit.

"There are several studies that show that increased evening daylight actually gets people out shopping, so it helps our small busienesses," Roberts told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday.

Roberts also said Ontarians are "tired of watching the sun set while they are still at work."

"Permanent daylight saving means people who work a standard day shift – and kids who go to school during the day – get more daylight at the end of the day, and it will make Ontario a safer and happier place."

He said that past proposals to end the time change have been met with resistance because of the "logistical difficulties" without Quebec and New York following suit.

"This bill addresses these issues by ensuring that the Attorney General has discretion in when they will implement this change," he said.

Daylight saving time, which began on March 8, is set to end in Ontario on Nov 1 at 2 a.m.



Why do we have Daylight Saving Time?

According to Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a professor at York University, the whole tradition started at the end of the 19th century when someone wanted to play golf later in the afternoon during the summer.

She said daylight saving time has come and gone throughout the years. She said it disappeared after the First World War, and returned during the Second World War.

She also said the "rumours" of saving energy are baseless.



"The energy saving never came about," she said. "It's a good question why we hold on to it, everybody is irritated by the switch."

Most Canadian provinces observe daylight saving time, but Saskatchewan decided to not follow the herd and uses only standard time year round.

British Columbia introduced legislation to end the time change altogether, and stick to permanent daylight saving time.

[Fivetide]

Pumpkin weighing 2,350 pounds wins California contest


Travis Gienger, from Anoka, Minn., poses next to his pumpkin, which weighed in at 2350
pounds, to win the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay,
Calif., Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Being cooped up at home due to the pandemic paid handsomely for a Minnesota horticulture teacher who used the extra time to constantly water and feed a massive pumpkin that won this year’s Half Moon Bay pumpkin contest.

Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, spent a lot of his free time in the pumpkin patch in his backyard, watering his plants up to 10 times a day and feeding and fertilizing them at least twice each day.

Gienger, 40, then drove his gargantuan gourd for 35 hours to see his hard work pay off at the 47th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, where his winner came in at 2,350 pounds (1,066 kilograms).

“It was nerve-wracking because with every bump on the road I kept thinking, ‘is it going to make it?’” And then finally it got weighed, it was the last one, and oh, my gosh, it’s been incredible!” Gienger said.

Gienger, a landscape and horticulture teacher at Anoka Technical College, has been growing pumpkins since he was a teenager, inspired by his father who also grew them. It was his first time competing at the Half Moon Bay weigh-off but he’s not sure he’ll be back next year.

“I might need a year off from the work and the nerves and everything,” he said, laughing.

The first-time pumpkin champ won $16,450, or $7 per pound, for the lumpy, orange pumpkin that will be showcased during a parade through Half Moon Bay later Monday.

Gienger’s pumpkin was the second-heaviest ever weighed at the 40-year-old California event, but it was still far from a U.S. record. That was set in 2018 when a grower in New Hampshire produced a pumpkin weighing more than 2,500 pounds (1,134 kilograms).

The record for the heaviest pumpkin in the world was set in 2016 at the Giant Pumpkin European Championship in Ludwigsburg, Germany. A Belgium grower’s winning whopper came in at just over 2,600 pounds (1,179 kilograms).

[hija]

Michelangelo revealed



There’s good news for art lovers, with the announcement by Florence’s Bargello Museum that the public may finally be allowed to see sketches by Michelangelo on the walls of a secret room that has remained private since its discovery 40 years ago. The room, beneath the Medici Chapels in the city’s Basilico di San Lorenzo, could be opened to visitors before the end of next year.

When a student's mother unexpectedly went into early labor in their school's gym, a trio of teachers at IDEA Bluff Springs School stepped in to help, ultimately delivering Janet Karina Soto-Rodriguez's baby.

The three teachers, Valentina Davalos, Amberlynn Balli, and Erica Beverly, each took on a different duty, with Davalos caring for the newborn, Balli translating the 911 operator's instructions for the Spanish-speaking couple and Beverly following the instructions to help care for Janet before she and the baby, a girl named Andrea, were brought to the hospital.

"We wanted to make the delivery as comfortable and beautiful and private as possible no matter the circumstances," Balli told GMA.

And the school's principal later revealed Andrea will receive a full-ride college scholarship

[WordDiva]

All 4 iPhone 12 models compared: Differences between iPhone 12, Pro, Pro Max and Mini



After a month-long delay due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Apple finally announced its latest family of iPhones during a virtual online event today. They include the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro, and all feature 5G connectivity, a magnetic backing branded as MagSafe that can attach to a number of accessories and a new ceramic display that promises to be more durable.

With so many devices, it can get a little confusing about what makes these handsets different from each other. In general, the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini are the two most affordable phones in the lineup and have dual rear cameras. The two Pro models are the highest-end and priciest iPhones. In addition to a third telephoto camera, they also have a LiDar scanner for modeling and object detection.

For a full rundown on the iPhone 12, take a look at the chart below, where you can see their specs side-by-side.






https://www.cnet.com/news/all-4-iphone- ... -max-mini/