The Odd Truth, April 13, 2005
The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Joey Arak.
Drinking, Driving And Dancing
WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. - Ten teens hired a limo so they'd get to their prom all in one piece -- but ended up helping bust their chauffeur on drunken driving charges.
Patrick Curley, a senior at Winter Springs High School, used his cell phone to call home Saturday and told his parents the driver had ignored stop signs, cut off other vehicles and veered onto the wrong side of the road.
Robert Curley told his son to tell the driver to pull over. When she stopped, the students grabbed the keys out of the ignition.
The students got to the prom 90 minutes late.
Christina Tomacelli, 49, was charged with driving under the influence and refusing to submit to a blood-alcohol test. Deputies said they found a half-empty bottle of vodka next to the driver's seat. They said she also acknowledged drinking wine.
Tokyo Prisoners Get New Look
TOKYO - Martha Stewart, eat your heart out.
Japan is giving its prisoners more brightly colored clothing and bed sheets in the hopes of cheering up the mood behind bars.
The decision, to be implemented next year, was made after consultation with professional color coordinators and will be the first change in prisoners' uniforms since 1966.
"We hope to stabilize the mental states of inmates by giving them warmer and brighter colors," Shigemi Tanimoto, a Justice Ministry official, said in making the announcement Wednesday. "Color experts told us the colors currently in use were too cold and aggressive."
Japan now provides the country's 71,889 inmates with dark brown and gray clothes and bedcovers in sharply contrasting orange and green. Tanimoto refused to say what specific colors will be used for the new uniforms.
It's A Dog-Help-Dog World
LONDON - It was one of those heartwarming Lassie moments, with a twist.
A golden Labrador survived a 100-foot fall down a cliff after another dog, a black Labrador, ran to get help from the first dog's owner, coast guard officials said.
The golden Labrador named Lacey became trapped after slipping down a rocky slope Monday near South Stack, in Holyhead, north Wales.
The black Labrador, named Sheena, spotted her lying in a pool of water at the bottom of a gully and raced to fetch Lacey's owner, barking to gain attention and directing her to the stricken animal.
Coast guard rescuers climbed down to the dog and set up a harness-and-rope system to hoist her back to the top. The whole operation took about 40 minutes.
A spokesman for the coast guard said the dog was shivering from the cold but did not seem to be hurt and was wagging her tail.
New Jersey's Biggest Tourist
TRENTON, N.J. - A whale of a tale is floating around Trenton, New Jersey. There's an unlikely visitor to the capital of the Garden State -- a whale. A ten-to-12-foot whale, believed to be a beluga, has been spotted swimming in the Delaware River. The whale was sighted yesterday about 80 miles from where the Delaware empties into the Atlantic Ocean, and it didn't seem to be in any hurry to get home. No one remembers if a whale has ever been that far up the Delaware before. Hundreds of people crowded the riverbank to try to catch a glimpse of the creature. State Attorney General's office spokesman Paul Loriquet, watching the whale story unfold from his eighth-floor window, said Trenton's gone whale mad.
PUI (Promming Under The Influence)
LITTLE ROCK - Drinking and driving don't mix and neither do drinking and dancing. This month's prom at Bryant High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, will include breathalyzer tests. The school has a zero-tolerance approach to student drinking. School administrators say they'll require sobriety tests for prom-goers suspected of boozing. All students have to sign a prom contract acknowledging that breathalyzers will be administered to anyone suspected of drinking. The document also says the students are responsible for their behavior and that of their dates.