In brief: Students charged for loosing ladybugs
CHAPTICO, Md. – Police have charged seven suspects in a senior prank that released 72,000 ladybugs in a public high school.
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that early May 20, five people forced open a door at Chopticon High School in Morganza, Maryland.
Deputies say the pranksters, who were wearing masks and hoodies, released a swarm of ladybugs throughout the school while two others waited in a car.
One suspect ordered the ladybugs online, deputies say.
Four juveniles have been charged with burglary, property destruction and disruption of school activities. They were released to their parents. Deputies say three adults will be charged by criminal summons.
Waterspout sends bounce houses flying
MIAMI – A waterspout uprooted an inflatable bounce house with three children inside it on a South Florida beach Monday, but the youngsters were ejected before it flew above palm trees across four lanes of traffic into a parking lot, police said.
All three children were tossed to the sand while another unoccupied bounce house nearby also took flight westward over the state road and landed in the same lot, authorities added.
Two of the children were treated for minor fractures and released while a third was in stable condition and being held overnight for observation at Broward Health Medical Center, police said in a statement.
Video on local television stations showed the waterspout – a whirling column of air and water mist – moving from the ocean onto the sand of Fort Lauderdale beach, tossing a canopy and rolling one of the bounce houses before lifting it into the air.
Police said no vehicles or pedestrians were hit by the airborne bounce houses and that no other injuries were reported.
Both bounce houses had been secured to a basketball court as part of a city-sponsored family activity zone. The waterspout snapped a concrete pole holding a basketball hoop.
Fan celebrates roller coaster’s 95th year
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. – An 82-year-old fan of a historic Pennsylvania roller coaster celebrated his 5,000th ride on it over the holiday weekend – sitting for more than eight hours straight and logging 95 spins around the wooden ride in a single day.
Vic Kleman, 82, marked the milestone Sunday on the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin. His number of rides honored the roller coaster’s 95th birthday this season.
“I feel great!” said Kleman, a retired general manager of a wholesale grocery firm and a local actor. “I made sure to move my legs throughout the day to keep from getting stiff after sitting so long.”
Kleman said he’s been riding the world’s fifth-oldest coaster since 1959.