It's not often that so many weird things hit the local news at the same time. Full Moon? You figure it out.
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Iowa Teens Take Wild Ride In Weekend Twister
Posted: 7:44 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
Three Iowa teens are telling a story straight out of the "Wizard of Oz."
They hunkered down inside a farmhouse to escape a weekend tornado, then hung on as the twister lifted the house and plunked it down more than 30 feet away.
One says the building got "slammed down like a basketball." The teens walked away from the wreckage, near the town of Argyle.
Cleanup crews spent Mother's Day picking through wreckage after the latest round of storms pummeled a half-dozen states.
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Sleeping Homeless Man Set On Fire In California
Man Suffers Third-Degree Burns To More Than 40 Percent Of Body
Posted: 8:18 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
SALINAS, Calif. -- A homeless man was set on fire as he slept in Salinas, Calif.
The 56-year-old man suffered third-degree burns to more than 40 percent of his body. Police say he was doused with a flammable liquid. When police found him, the lower half of his body was in flames.
The man is hospitalized in serious condition with burns from his feet to his waist.
Investigators believe the fire was set on purpose.
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Lizard Head In Salad Tests Negative For Bacteria
Final Results Expected Monday
Posted: 4:10 p.m. EDT May 11, 2003
CORALVILLE, Iowa -- There's good news about a lizard head found in an Iowa woman's salad. It's tested negative for salmonella.
The lizard head was found earlier this month in a carry-out salad from a restaurant in eastern Iowa.
The Johnson County Public Health Department says preliminary results showed no presence of the bacteria that causes food poisoning. Final results are expected Monday.
A University of Iowa dentistry professor filed a complaint with the health department, saying his wife discovered the lizard head in a Santa Fe Chicken Salad she bought at an Applebee's restaurant.
He says she was "upset" and probably won't be eating Santa Fe salads anytime soon.
The statement says the restaurant is now using pre-cut, pre-cleaned lettuce for its salads.
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Iraqi Soldiers Demand Back Pay
Posted: 8:44 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Hundreds of Iraqis want to get paid.
Just a month after their defeat by allied forces, 300 Iraqi soldiers have marched on the U.S. Army's main Baghdad base. They're demanding back pay and a future in the new Iraq.
The civilian-clad protesters chanted "With our souls! With our blood! We sacrifice for you, Iraq." Many are non-commissioned officers.
One air force sergeant said he and his colleagues want to get paid from "the oil wealth of Iraq." He said he was last paid his monthly salary -- the equivalent of less than $60 -- in February.
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Georgia Students Hold Annual 'Whites Only' Prom
Posted: 8:24 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga. -- A high school senior in Wrightsville, Ga., says it's always been this way -- separate proms for whites and blacks.
And this year was no exception. Students at Johnson County High School held two proms this year. Carla Rachels helped organize the whites-only prom, saying, "we don't see it as a big deal."
Taylor County, another rural area 90 miles west of Wrightsville, held an integrated prom last year, but added a separate whites-only prom this year.
After integration in the late 1960s, separate proms were common in the rural South, but Johnson and Taylor counties are among the last to cling to the practice.
And one prominent black who attended school in Johnson County says he wishes things were different. Former professional football star Herschel Walker urged an end to segregated proms when he visited last week when the high school football field was named in his honor.
__________________
Iowa Teens Take Wild Ride In Weekend Twister
Posted: 7:44 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
Three Iowa teens are telling a story straight out of the "Wizard of Oz."
They hunkered down inside a farmhouse to escape a weekend tornado, then hung on as the twister lifted the house and plunked it down more than 30 feet away.
One says the building got "slammed down like a basketball." The teens walked away from the wreckage, near the town of Argyle.
Cleanup crews spent Mother's Day picking through wreckage after the latest round of storms pummeled a half-dozen states.
___________________
Sleeping Homeless Man Set On Fire In California
Man Suffers Third-Degree Burns To More Than 40 Percent Of Body
Posted: 8:18 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
SALINAS, Calif. -- A homeless man was set on fire as he slept in Salinas, Calif.
The 56-year-old man suffered third-degree burns to more than 40 percent of his body. Police say he was doused with a flammable liquid. When police found him, the lower half of his body was in flames.
The man is hospitalized in serious condition with burns from his feet to his waist.
Investigators believe the fire was set on purpose.
__________________________
Lizard Head In Salad Tests Negative For Bacteria
Final Results Expected Monday
Posted: 4:10 p.m. EDT May 11, 2003
CORALVILLE, Iowa -- There's good news about a lizard head found in an Iowa woman's salad. It's tested negative for salmonella.
The lizard head was found earlier this month in a carry-out salad from a restaurant in eastern Iowa.
The Johnson County Public Health Department says preliminary results showed no presence of the bacteria that causes food poisoning. Final results are expected Monday.
A University of Iowa dentistry professor filed a complaint with the health department, saying his wife discovered the lizard head in a Santa Fe Chicken Salad she bought at an Applebee's restaurant.
He says she was "upset" and probably won't be eating Santa Fe salads anytime soon.
The statement says the restaurant is now using pre-cut, pre-cleaned lettuce for its salads.
______________________
Iraqi Soldiers Demand Back Pay
Posted: 8:44 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Hundreds of Iraqis want to get paid.
Just a month after their defeat by allied forces, 300 Iraqi soldiers have marched on the U.S. Army's main Baghdad base. They're demanding back pay and a future in the new Iraq.
The civilian-clad protesters chanted "With our souls! With our blood! We sacrifice for you, Iraq." Many are non-commissioned officers.
One air force sergeant said he and his colleagues want to get paid from "the oil wealth of Iraq." He said he was last paid his monthly salary -- the equivalent of less than $60 -- in February.
____________________________
Georgia Students Hold Annual 'Whites Only' Prom
Posted: 8:24 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga. -- A high school senior in Wrightsville, Ga., says it's always been this way -- separate proms for whites and blacks.
And this year was no exception. Students at Johnson County High School held two proms this year. Carla Rachels helped organize the whites-only prom, saying, "we don't see it as a big deal."
Taylor County, another rural area 90 miles west of Wrightsville, held an integrated prom last year, but added a separate whites-only prom this year.
After integration in the late 1960s, separate proms were common in the rural South, but Johnson and Taylor counties are among the last to cling to the practice.
And one prominent black who attended school in Johnson County says he wishes things were different. Former professional football star Herschel Walker urged an end to segregated proms when he visited last week when the high school football field was named in his honor.
