Here are a few stories you might have missed over the weekend.

N.Y. ice cream trucks tailor music

NEW YORK, May 20 (UPI) — Ice cream trucks in New York City are tailoring their music to fit their audiences.
For example, one source told The New York Times, the Bronx is mostly Spanish’speaking, and so an ice cream vendor
may play Mariachi music while cruising through the neighborhood. Neighborhoods that represent other cultures or ethnicities
may receive different music.

But not everyone is smiling. The Times reported that many citizens have filed noise complaints associated with ice cream
truck music. In 1998, a community in New Jersey voted to do away with the music completely and in New York, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg tried to put a ban on the music in 2005.

Ohio police searching for 7-foot buffalo

CINCINNATI, May 20 (UPI) — A missing farm mascot in New Richmond, Ohio, has sent police on a fruitless search for
a 7-foot, 350-pound buffalo made entirely of fiberglass.

Despite the massive size of the Vista Grand Ranch’s mascot, named Big Bad Bob, authorities have been unable to locate it
since it was stolen last week, the Cincinnati Enquirer said Sunday.

New Richmond Police Sgt. Leslie Smith said that while many tips have been offered by residents since the mascot
disappeared Thursday, the fiberglass buffalo has remained elusive.

“This thing is the size of a small car,” Smith said. “People have been coming up to police officers saying ‘Look here’ or ‘Look
here.’ We’ve looked all over the place; we can’t find it.”

Police told the Enquirer that Big Bad Bob was taken while the mascot sat in the parking lot of a grocery store.

Mom sues baseball coach for bad coaching

NEW SPRINGVILLE, N.Y., May 20 (UPI) — A New York mother is suing her son’s baseball coach for not teaching him
to properly slide into a base.

The lawsuit, filed May 4, stems from an episode three years ago when the woman’s son, Martin, attempted to slide onto a
base and suffered “serious bodily injury” that resulted in “permanent scarring and disability,” according to the suit she filed in
Staten Island Supreme Court.

The New York Post reported the woman as saying her son was encouraged by his coach to run from first base to second,
where the injury allegedly occurred. The lawsuit did not specify the dollar amount the coach is being sued for.

News of the lawsuit shocked the local Little League community, with some parents calling the action frivolous and
unnecessary, the Post reported.

Texting sends phone bill through roof

WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) — Text messaging, the communications phenomenon that has caught on in the United
States in a big way, is sending mobile phone bills sky high.

The Washington Post talked with sociologists and parents who said it is not unusual for teens to send thousands of text
messages a month. At a rate of more than 10 cents per text message, the math can equal financial woes for parents who pay
a teens cell phone bill.

Market research indicates those most likely to send text messages are between the ages of 13 and 24. The Post said many
families have switched to unlimited text messaging plans or have left the teenager to foot the text messaging bill.

The reason the technology has exploded is because it gives teenagers distance from their parents, the experts said. They say
text messaging can be done from anywhere, any time and often involves a large group, giving young people a sense of being
part of something bigger.

Convicted cannibal looking for new love

NEW YORK, May 20 (UPI) — A convicted killer known for eating some of his victims’ body parts is actively searching for
love from his cell in a New York prison, a report said.

The New York Post Sunday said since Arthur Shawcross divorced his wife in February, the man convicted in 1991 of
killing 11 prostitutes has been on the hunt for a sixth wife.

While the 61-year-old convict may not be in the ideal dating situation, he told the newspaper that he has a few specifics in
mind in regards to his ideal mate.

“I do prefer blondes, redheads and platinum women over the rest, but will accept someone from any race who might be
smart, have a good job and is not destitute,” Shawcross said.

The Sullivan Correctional Facility inmate said the woman should live within visiting distance of the prison and be somewhere
between 24 and 100-years-old.

But most of all, the Post reported, Shawcross said he is looking for a conjugal visit partner during his life sentence.

“I want hugs and kisses, touchy-feely,” he said.

Today In History

1542 - Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto died while searching for gold on the banks of the Mississippi River.

1881 - Clara Barton founded what became the American Red Cross.

1927 - Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly across the Atlantic (from New York to Paris) in his monoplane,

The Spirit of St. Louis.

1932 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (from Newfoundland to Ireland).

1956 - The first hydrogen bomb to be dropped by air exploded over the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

1989 - In Hong Kong, approximately one million people took to the streets to show their support for students protesting for

democratic reforms in China’s Tiananmen Square.

1991 - Rajiv Gandhi, former Indian prime minister, was assassinated by a suicide bomber.

1999 - Susan Lucci finally won a Daytime Emmy on her 19th nomination.

Have a GREAT WEEK!

Jim Swanson