NEW YORK (AP) - Want your kids to give the neighbors a real fright this Halloween? Outfit them with a Bernie Madoff mask. They may come home with all the candy from every house. One costume company says it's distributed more than 15,000 Bernie Madoff masks to stores around the country. But it expects Madoff will be outsold by masks of Michael Jackson and Super Mario Brothers. Madoff himself is serving 150 years for a gigantic Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of millions.
CALIFORNIA DRUNK DRIVING
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - It's just gotten harder to drive drunk in California
-- but only in four counties. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill that
will require people convicted of drunk driving in Alameda, Los Angeles,
Sacramento and Tulare counties to install ignition interlocks on all their
vehicles. If the device detects alcohol on their breath, the engine won't start.
The new law covers even first-time DUI offenders. It's an experiment set to
expire in 2016.
DONNA MAE MIMS
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. (AP) - It was not your usual funeral visitation. Instead of the
deceased lying in a casket, or at least ashes in an urn, there she was behind
the steering wheel of a 1979 pink Corvette. But Donna Mae Sims had credentials
for such a flamboyant goodbye. She was the first woman to win a Sports Car Club
of America national championship, back in 1963. She died Tuesday in Bridgeville,
Pennsylvania, at age 82. In her racing days, Mims was known as the "Pink Lady"
because of her preferred color for cars. She even took part in the famous
Cannonball Run, during which her 1968 Cadillac limousine was wrecked. Not by
her, by her teammate.
PEAK OIL?
DENVER (AP) - If gas prices really pinch your wallet when they bump up, you
better hope some people meeting in Denver over the next few days are dead wrong.
Many are believers in the "peak oil" theory, which says the world is at or near
its maximum oil production, and that demand will soon eclipse supply. That, of
course, would inevitably hit you at the pump. The conference runs through
Tuesday. It includes not just believers, but also oil industry executives who
say the world's oil production peak could be as far as 40 years away. Meanwhile,
you'll be relieved to know that gasoline prices slid 4.5 cents during the past
two weeks, with regular now averaging $2.47 a gallon.
REVIVING PRESTON
PRESTON, Kan. (AP) - The little town of Preston in central Kansas looks to be on
its deathbed, but may get new life from -- an undertaker. Ken and Donna Stanton
of Arizona would like to build a mortuary and crematorium in Preston, which has
only 173 people plus boarded-up storefronts, an abandoned school, and vacant
homes. The Stantons see their project as the cornerstone of an ambitious
community revitalization plan. They'd like Preston to feature Old West-styled
building facades, old-time street lights and faux-board sidewalks. Some locals
may not be crazy about the idea of a mortuary as a lifesaver.
WIFE-CARRYING CONTEST
NEWRY, Maine (AP) - Sometimes, the man of the family has to carry a lot --
especially during a wife-carrying competition. At the North American
Championship over the weekend in Newry, Maine, 41 teams from 11 states competed
on a 278-yard course that included a muddy water hole and two log obstacles.
First prize was the wife's weight in beer, and five times her poundage in cash.
The winners were Dave and Lacey Castro of Lewiston, Maine. They did the course
in fewer than 55 seconds. It didn't hurt that Lacey weighs 97 pounds. The
Castro's are now eligible to take part in the World Wife-Carrying Championships
next July in Finland.
