Iowa Teen Abandoned in Nebraska

A new law in Nebraska states that any child can be relinquished by anyone at a hospital without incurring abandonment charges. The broadly-worded law was meant to protect children from parents who could not care for them. A couple in Council Bluffs, Iowa took advantage of the law by driving their granddaughter over the state line and leaving her at a Omaha hospital. The 14-year-old girl was the first child relinquished from out of state. The girl was returned to her family in Iowa after the grandparents changed their minds. Since the law was passed, 17 children have been relinquished at hospitals in Nebraska, including a group of nine siblings and one 15-year-old boy.

Woman Spends £10,000 So Cat Can Meow

Jean Kelly of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England noticed her cat Cadbury was quiet -too quiet. She took him to the vet and found he had a paralyzed larynx, a rare condition preventing him from meowing. Two surgeries were required to correct this condition. He also spent six days on oxygen and four months in nursing care, for a total cost of £10,000. Kelly’s pet health insurance covered £6,000 of the cost, leaving her to pay the other £4,000. Kelly, who postponed a vacation in Africa to pay for Cadbury’s bills, said it was worth it to hear her 13-year-old cat meow again.

1847 Law Keeps Cabbies from Bathroom

Cab driver David Finnegan was confronted by a council officer in Darlington, England when he parked his cab to use a public restroom nine feet away. The officer cited an 1847 law that says,

“If the driver of any hackney carriage leave it in any street or at any place of public resort or entertainment, whether it be hired or not, without some one proper to take care of it, any constable may drive away such hackney carriage and deposit it.”

Finnegan, who has driven a cab for twenty years, objected to the law, saying it would prevent him from ever leaving his cab for any reason. As the regulation was intended for horse-and-carriage drivers, the Darlington Council said they would dispose of the matter informally.

National Debt Clock Runs Out of Digits

The National Debt Clock has been keeping track of the US debt in Times Square since 1989. When Seymour Durst installed the clock, the national debt was 2.7 trillion. Last month, the digital dollar sign was removed in anticipation of the debt passing the 10 trillion dollar mark. Now the place where the dollar sign was accommodates the new digit. A new clock will be erected early next year, with space for a debt of a quadrillions dollars. The current national debt is 10.2 trillion dollars, which may go to 11 trillion due to the financial bailout package.

Swimming the Palace Moat Naked

Japan’s Emperor and Empress live in a palace in Tokyo surrounded by 12 moats. On Tuesday, a man who later identified himself as a British tourist jumped into the moat naked and led police on a chase that lasted an hour and a half. At one point, he left the water to chase police with a pole and throw rocks at them. He also scaled the 8 meter palace wall before returning to the water. The man was finally arrested and later released.

Couple Saw Home in Half

A couple in Cambodia have separated from each other by cutting their home in half! After being married for almost 40 years, the two decided to live apart, and thought this would be the most equitable way to do it. The wife will remain in her half of the home in its current location; the husband will live with his parents until he reconstructs his half at another site.

Python Tried to Eat Zoo Owner’s Head

Renate Klosse runs a zoo in Uhldingen, Germany. Last weekend, she was cleaning out the cage of a Tiger python named Antonia when the snake attacked her!

‘The jaws of the snake opened so wide that, with one lunge, she was able to completely cover the woman’s face,’ said a police spokeswoman.

‘She feared that with a few more gulps her head would be inside.’

Klosse stuck her thumbs into the snake’s jaws while her coworkers sprayed the snake with a water hose. The snake then let go, and Klosse was treated at a hospital for bite wounds and shock.