Clown Is Running for Mayor of Alameda
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 4:07 PM EDT
The Associated Press
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) A real clown is running for mayor of Alameda, and even his sister won't vote for him.
Kenneth Kahn, 41, a professional joker known as "Kenny the Clown," admits he's running a long-shot campaign for City Hall's top spot. Kahn has not previously run for an elected position and has never sat on a public board.
Ads by Google Spyware-Virus Remover
Free Spyware-Virus scan. Winner of
Best Anti-Spyware. Rated 5 Stars!
www.pctools.comFree Antivirus Downloads
Is your Computer acting weird? Free
Scan. Kill viruses, spyware, worms.
www.Stop-Sign.comAll the AntiVirus
All the Anti-Virus Programs
Smart Software Shoppers Start Here
AntiVirus.AlltheBrands.comvirus software
Expert virus protection.
Find virus software
www.Viris.com"People ask me, 'Do we really want to elect a clown for mayor of the city?'" he said. "I say, 'That's an excellent question.'"
Kahn's mother, Barbara, said her son doesn't have a chance, and Sylvia Kahn, a teacher, said her brother's candidacy is a "mockery of our system."
"I don't think it makes any sense, because, to me, running for mayor is not where you start as far as community involvement goes," she said.
In November, the funnyman who graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, faces incumbent Beverly Johnson and City Councilman Doug deHaan.
In this undated photo released by Conservation International, an epaulette shark (Hemiscyillum... Shark That Walks on Fins Is Discovered
Monday, September 18, 2006 10:49 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By MICHAEL CASEY
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) Scientists combing through undersea fauna off Indonesia's Papua province said Monday they had discovered dozens of new species, including a shark that walks on its fins and a shrimp that looks like a praying mantis.
The team from U.S.-based Conservation International also warned that the area known as Bird's Head Seascape is under danger from fishermen who use dynamite and cyanide to net their catches and called on Indonesia's government to do more to protect it.
"It's one of the most stunningly beautiful landscapes and seascapes on the planet," said Mark Erdmann, a senior adviser of Conservation International who led two surveys to the area earlier this year.
"Above and below water, it's simply mind blowing," he said.
Erdmann and his team claim to have discovered 52 new species, including 24 new species of fish, 20 new species of coral and eight new species of shrimp. Among the highlights were an epaulette shark that walks on its fins, a praying mantis-like shrimp and scores of reef-building corals, he said.
Conservation International said papers on two of the new fish species, called flasher wrasse because of the bright colors the male exhibits during mating, have been accepted for publication to the Aqua, Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology.
The group is in the process of writing papers on the other species, it said.
Carden Wallace, a coral expert and principal scientist at the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville, Australia, said she was not surprised by the finding "mostly because it is a remote location and hasn't been visited by scientists very much."
Wallace said the finds should give scientists crucial data.
"This will give us a better understanding of where all this diversity originates from and how vulnerable it may be," Wallace said.
Erdmann said the discoveries add to an already legendary reputation for the area, which stretches for 70,000 square miles on the northwestern end of Indonesia's Papua province.
Dubbed Asia's "Coral Triangle," it is home to more than 1,200 species of fish and almost 600 species of reef-building coral, or 75 percent of the world's known total.
But the region's biodiversity faces threats from subsistence fishermen who use dynamite and cyanide, as well as a government plan to introduce commercial fishing along the coast. That has prompted Conservation International to call for the government to set up a series of marine parks around Bird's Head Seascape.
"These Papuan reefs are literally species factories that require special attention to protect them from unsustainable fisheries and other threats so they can continue to benefit their local owners and the global community," Erdmann said.
Erdmann said only 11 percent of the area currently is protected, most of it in the Teluk Cendarawasih National Park. He said the government is studying the idea of creating additional marine parks.
The surveys took place in waters surrounding Papua from Teluk Cenderawasih in the north to Raja Ampat archipelago off the western coast and southeast to the FakFak-Kaimana coastline.
The two survey sites are a few hundred miles from another Conservation International site in the Foja Mountains. Researchers in February announced a survey of the Foja Mountains discovered 20 frog species including a microhylid frog less than a half-inch long four new butterfly species, and at least five new types of palms.
Researchers also encountered the Long-beaked Echidna, members of the primitive egg-laying group of mammals called the Monotremes.
On the Net:
Conservation International: www.conservation.org
Man Who Claims Toupee Caused Attack Sues
Saturday, September 16, 2006 7:43 AM EDT
The Associated Press
MILFORD, Conn. (AP) _ A man who claims he had a heart attack during a dispute over an ill-fitting hairpiece that didn't match his hair color is suing the wig shop.
Paul Lewis claims he suffered a heart attack after refusing to pay for the hairpiece that was not only the wrong size but also the wrong color. He is seeking more than $15,000 in damages.
Lewis filed a counter lawsuit in Superior Court after Paula's Wig Boutique of Orange filed a small claims action seeking $1,200 in payment for the hairpiece.
Lewis claims he fell ill in December 2004 after Paula Wood, the owner of the wig shop, threatened to call police because he refused to pay, according to court records.
Lewis told the Connecticut Post that Wood sold him the hairpiece in a darkened room and he didn't realize it was the wrong color until later. He said he put a stop payment on a check he issued to the shop.
Wood said she has no idea why Lewis suffered a heart attack over the incident and added that he was so happy with the hairpiece when he left the shop that he "hugged me and thanked me."
She added that her shop is brightly lit and Lewis left with the hairpiece during the day.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 4:07 PM EDT
The Associated Press
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) A real clown is running for mayor of Alameda, and even his sister won't vote for him.
Kenneth Kahn, 41, a professional joker known as "Kenny the Clown," admits he's running a long-shot campaign for City Hall's top spot. Kahn has not previously run for an elected position and has never sat on a public board.
Ads by Google Spyware-Virus Remover
Free Spyware-Virus scan. Winner of
Best Anti-Spyware. Rated 5 Stars!
www.pctools.comFree Antivirus Downloads
Is your Computer acting weird? Free
Scan. Kill viruses, spyware, worms.
www.Stop-Sign.comAll the AntiVirus
All the Anti-Virus Programs
Smart Software Shoppers Start Here
AntiVirus.AlltheBrands.comvirus software
Expert virus protection.
Find virus software
www.Viris.com"People ask me, 'Do we really want to elect a clown for mayor of the city?'" he said. "I say, 'That's an excellent question.'"
Kahn's mother, Barbara, said her son doesn't have a chance, and Sylvia Kahn, a teacher, said her brother's candidacy is a "mockery of our system."
"I don't think it makes any sense, because, to me, running for mayor is not where you start as far as community involvement goes," she said.
In November, the funnyman who graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, faces incumbent Beverly Johnson and City Councilman Doug deHaan.
In this undated photo released by Conservation International, an epaulette shark (Hemiscyillum... Shark That Walks on Fins Is Discovered
Monday, September 18, 2006 10:49 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By MICHAEL CASEY
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) Scientists combing through undersea fauna off Indonesia's Papua province said Monday they had discovered dozens of new species, including a shark that walks on its fins and a shrimp that looks like a praying mantis.
The team from U.S.-based Conservation International also warned that the area known as Bird's Head Seascape is under danger from fishermen who use dynamite and cyanide to net their catches and called on Indonesia's government to do more to protect it.
"It's one of the most stunningly beautiful landscapes and seascapes on the planet," said Mark Erdmann, a senior adviser of Conservation International who led two surveys to the area earlier this year.
"Above and below water, it's simply mind blowing," he said.
Erdmann and his team claim to have discovered 52 new species, including 24 new species of fish, 20 new species of coral and eight new species of shrimp. Among the highlights were an epaulette shark that walks on its fins, a praying mantis-like shrimp and scores of reef-building corals, he said.
Conservation International said papers on two of the new fish species, called flasher wrasse because of the bright colors the male exhibits during mating, have been accepted for publication to the Aqua, Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology.
The group is in the process of writing papers on the other species, it said.
Carden Wallace, a coral expert and principal scientist at the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville, Australia, said she was not surprised by the finding "mostly because it is a remote location and hasn't been visited by scientists very much."
Wallace said the finds should give scientists crucial data.
"This will give us a better understanding of where all this diversity originates from and how vulnerable it may be," Wallace said.
Erdmann said the discoveries add to an already legendary reputation for the area, which stretches for 70,000 square miles on the northwestern end of Indonesia's Papua province.
Dubbed Asia's "Coral Triangle," it is home to more than 1,200 species of fish and almost 600 species of reef-building coral, or 75 percent of the world's known total.
But the region's biodiversity faces threats from subsistence fishermen who use dynamite and cyanide, as well as a government plan to introduce commercial fishing along the coast. That has prompted Conservation International to call for the government to set up a series of marine parks around Bird's Head Seascape.
"These Papuan reefs are literally species factories that require special attention to protect them from unsustainable fisheries and other threats so they can continue to benefit their local owners and the global community," Erdmann said.
Erdmann said only 11 percent of the area currently is protected, most of it in the Teluk Cendarawasih National Park. He said the government is studying the idea of creating additional marine parks.
The surveys took place in waters surrounding Papua from Teluk Cenderawasih in the north to Raja Ampat archipelago off the western coast and southeast to the FakFak-Kaimana coastline.
The two survey sites are a few hundred miles from another Conservation International site in the Foja Mountains. Researchers in February announced a survey of the Foja Mountains discovered 20 frog species including a microhylid frog less than a half-inch long four new butterfly species, and at least five new types of palms.
Researchers also encountered the Long-beaked Echidna, members of the primitive egg-laying group of mammals called the Monotremes.
On the Net:
Conservation International: www.conservation.org
Man Who Claims Toupee Caused Attack Sues
Saturday, September 16, 2006 7:43 AM EDT
The Associated Press
MILFORD, Conn. (AP) _ A man who claims he had a heart attack during a dispute over an ill-fitting hairpiece that didn't match his hair color is suing the wig shop.
Paul Lewis claims he suffered a heart attack after refusing to pay for the hairpiece that was not only the wrong size but also the wrong color. He is seeking more than $15,000 in damages.
Lewis filed a counter lawsuit in Superior Court after Paula's Wig Boutique of Orange filed a small claims action seeking $1,200 in payment for the hairpiece.
Lewis claims he fell ill in December 2004 after Paula Wood, the owner of the wig shop, threatened to call police because he refused to pay, according to court records.
Lewis told the Connecticut Post that Wood sold him the hairpiece in a darkened room and he didn't realize it was the wrong color until later. He said he put a stop payment on a check he issued to the shop.
Wood said she has no idea why Lewis suffered a heart attack over the incident and added that he was so happy with the hairpiece when he left the shop that he "hugged me and thanked me."
She added that her shop is brightly lit and Lewis left with the hairpiece during the day.
VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
How are you doing lately?